Asmahan wriiten by Selma Dabbagh. Peacock Theatre, Portugal.Street, London until 17 June 2025, 4☆☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

Asmahan wriiten by Selma Dabbagh. Peacock Theatre, Portugal.Street, London until 17 June 2025,

4☆☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

“A marvellous concert.”

If ever there was a curate's egg of a show this is it. The first half which is allegedly a musical play about the Egyptian singer Amal Atrash, known as Asmahan, who was killed in a suspicious car accident in 1944, is absolutely terrible. An imaginary back stage interview the night before she died it makes no sense whatsoever in spite of the efforts of the players. The suggestion is she may have been involved in some kind of espionage plotting as they were rife at the time but it is anybody's guess. The second act is a concert of Asmahan's songs performed by Lena Chamamyan, who has wandered pointlessly through the first half being temperamental as Asmahan while her dresser, who also died in the accident rambles on about her. Suddenly the evening comes to life, partly because the audience know the songs but the bond between singer and audience adds to the impact and it could stand alone perfectly. It would help in that case if there was a brief introduction in English as not everyone in the audience knows the language they are sung in but the back projections of |Asmahan in some of her films do help – she was undeniably beautiful – while Ahmed Hartoush who plays her brother Farid Al Atrash sings a couple of numbers with great style. Four dancers get saddled with some lousy routines but one can forget that as Chamamyan is spellbinding, has a voice that soars, and a terrific orchestra backs her performance.

Cast

Lena Chamamyan – Asmahan

Ahmed Harfoush – Farid Al Atrash

Yazdan Qafouri – The Journalist

Nathalie Alain – Asmahan's Friend

Mohab Kaddah – The Music Director

Bethany Weaver, Samuel James-Lake, Donna Atallah, Ali Ballout – Dancers

Creatives

Stage Managers – Aiman Bandali, Marie Angelique

Set Designer – Lucy Sneddon

Costume Designer – Maariyah Sharjil

Lighting Designer – Hector Murray

Choreographer – Bethany Weaver

Music Director – Louai Alhenawi