Posted on October 2, 2007 at 9:53 pm

PARADE Four stars
Donmar Warehouse, 0870 060 6624, until November 24

By JULIE CARPENTER

DEVOTEES of the frothy feelgood musical should read no further. Parade is an alothether more thought-provoking affair, based on the real-life trial of a Jewish factory manager, Leo Frank, who was unfairly convicted of the rape and murder of a 13-year-old employee, Mary Phagan, in Georgia in 1913.

It’s easy to wonder why such a serious subject has been given the musical treatment but don’t be put off.

This is a compelling piece – penned by Alfred Uhry, who wrote Driving Miss Daisy – which is littered with numbers which work particularly well on the intimate Donmar stage.

Composer and lyricist Jason Robert Brown offers a rich variety of musical styles, such as ragtime, folk, blues, jazz and gospel, to expose the simmering anti-semitism of the Deep South, as well as the furore whipped up by the community’s unpalatable desire for a conviction at any cost.

Hanging just another black man, suggest the prosecutor, “ain’t enough this time”, whereas Frank, a white Jew, would make a more satisfying scapegoat in this unsettling climate.

It all makes for some tense trial scenes. When the verdict is delivered, Frank’s accusers chant and sing in a rising hysteria and their glee and exhilaration as they whoop in a gathering momentum of music and dance appears particularly grotesque, effectively illustrating the bloodlust of the baying mob.

Even the more upbeat numbers (and yes, there are some) have a cynical undertone.

At one point, Frank jumps up mid-trial to perform a fantasy sequence – bashing out the jazzy number “Come Up To My Office” – momentarily behaving in the sleazy fashion his accusers paint him.

It seems to alien to his repressed character that it highlights how unfounded the accusations against him actually are.

Played by Bertie Carvel, Frank is wonderfully insect-like at the outset – nervous, agitated and unlikeable – but he develops into a rounded and highly sympathetic wronged figure, while Lara Pulver plays his wife Lucilee with poise and dignity as she campaigns to clear his name.

The grisly conclusion is shocking but the second half, which deals more with the Franks’ love story, lacks momentum and the attempts to draw comparisons with the American Civial War – the murder happened on its observance “parade” day – are strained. But this is a memorable, enriching and emotionally impacting experience all round.