Beautiful Little Fool

Southwark Playhouse Borough

Playing until 28th February 2026

Book tickets

Photo credit: Pamela Raith

{PR Gifted ticket}

Reminiscing the memories of her late mother and father, we bear witness to the lives of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, through the eyes of Scottie (Lauren Ward) on her birthday. Spanning the course of her parents meeting, marriage, her own birth and their death, Beautiful Little Fool tells the story of the famous couple and the crazy life they led.

Given Fitzgerald (David Hunter) and Zelda’s (Amy Parker) turbulent life and the immense potential that could have came with them, the story and characters are woefully underdeveloped. For Fitzgerald, his rise and subsequent downfall largely occurred behind the scenes and in the shadow of Zelda’s narratives. However, without some more in-depth and impactful explanations on Fitzgerald’s interactions with his wife, Zelda’s mental downward spiral and her character’s plotlines also struggled to shine. It is surprising to see how small of a role Fitzgerald has in this production given the fact that he is responsible for much of the events that occurred.

The recounting of the couple’s tale by Scottie appears to be unprompted and simply one of those things that came into her head as she peruses through her family archive. This lack of trigger to the events she tells create a chasm between her and the tales of the two people that she holds dear, preventing the formation of a connection between her and her parents’ story.  Other than serving as a mechanic to initiate the story and to then propel it forward (though with mixed success), Scottie’s role lacks any kind of complex emotions and by extension, prevents Ward to portray the character in a meaningful way.

Fitzgerald and Zelda’s marriage is known to be messy, abusive, something that this production does not linger on. Instead, Mona Mansour’s book chooses to dwell on the crazy parties the couple held and Zelda’s rapid mental deterioration. While this might have been a creative decision to showcase the parts that were most integrated into Scottie’s memory, this also risks oversimplification of the environment in which she grew up in.  

Similar to the book, the music also suffers from a generally forgettable score and excessively repetitive lyrics. While Ward, Hunter and Parker flawlessly executed the materials they were given, these were insufficient to carry a show with fundamental issues.  

For a small stage like the Southwark Playhouse, this set is complex with too many moving parts and creates a very crowded space on the lower level. The need to move various props on and off the stage and changing their positions to alternate between a sofa and a bed also disrupt the flow of scenes. Instead of complementing the delivery of the story, they serve more as distractions.

Mona Mansour’s intention in this musical describes a society that wasn’t ready for ambitious women and that they were often not remembered by their talents and achievements, but by what people considered as eccentric behaviours at the time. While a worthwhile topic to explore, it did not develop sufficient connections and emotions amongst the characters to allow the concept to stand on its own legs.

Creatives

Book: Mona Mansour

Music and Lyrics: Hannah Corneau

Director: Michael Greif

Musical Director: Jerome van den Berghe

Set Design: Shankho Chanudhuri

Costume Design: Laura Hopkins

Lighting Design: Ben Stanton

Sound Design: Dominic Bilkey

Hair and Make-up Design: Josh Bamling