Lifeline
09 April 2026
Southwark Playhouse Elephant
2.0 out of 5.0 stars
Lifeline, currently running at the Southwark Playhouse Elephant until the 2nd May, is a new musical tackling a scientific based storyline revolving around antibiotic resistance in which two stories are meshed together. In 2025, junior doctor Jess is faced with difficult decisions when her childhood sweetheart is admitted with an antibiotic resistant infection following a major operation, meanwhile in 1950 scientist Alexander Fleming researches the first glimpses of Penicillin-resistant bacteria while wrestling with grief for his recently deceased wife and new love blossoming towards fellow scientist Amalia Voureka.
The two storylines seem only haphazardly connected by the main theme of antibiotic resistance, not really harmonising well otherwise. There is an overarching theme of love as well, though the various stories don’t fall into place well, giving a feeling of mismatched storytelling of two plotlines that don’t quite fit together. While the lighting work does make it clear which timeline is currently being portrayed, it is a bit of a mess otherwise. Emotions don’t land as authentic, rather feeling forced and artificial.
The production features a chorus of real-life healthcare workers and scientists, which seems like a great idea on paper, but unfortunately is quite obvious in the unpolished acting work resulting from this. Additionally, the professional talent doesn’t quite live up to the heavy lifting required to make the stories come to life, giving the whole production more of an am-dram feel than a professional musical production.
A massive saving grace is the actual music throughout, a beautiful soundtrack inspired by Scottish folk music gives a wonderfully rounded backdrop to an unrefined script. Unfortunately the vocal work and corny lyrics don’t live up to the soundscape. While there are some beautiful songs on show, they don’t quite hit emotionally, perhaps due to the characters never being fully fleshed out, seeming more like stand-ins for ideas than fully realised people.
Overall, there’s a spark of an idea and beautiful music at the base of the show, but the story, characters, and lyrics need a lot more work to fully come together.
