Stage: Tale as old as time

He's Behind You! presents
Beauty and the Beast: A Horny Love Story
by Jon Bradfield and Martin Hooper
director Andrew Beckett
with Matthew Baldwin, Matt Kennedy, Chris Lane, Keanu Adolphus Johnson, Laura Anna-Mead, Dani Mirels, Ben Mabberley, Owen Arkrow, Olivia-Grace Weaver
composer Jon Bradfield • choreographer Carole Todd
sets David Shields • costumes Robert Draper
sound Andrew Johnson • lighting Matt Hockley
Charing Cross Theatre, London • 21.Nov.25-11.Jan.26 ★★★★

While this lively pantomime definitely hasn't been made for the kiddies, its bouncy childishness is hugely engaging. The grown-up audience at Charing Cross Theatre may continually roar at the raucously smutty wordplay, but it's the comfy self-aware nuttiness that keeps a smile on our faces. It definitely helps to have such an eye-catching array of sets and costumes, and such an up-for-it cast as this one, led by indefatigable panto-dame legend Matthew Baldwin.

The story is set in the Scottish village of Lickmanochers, where young Bertie (Matt Kennedy) and his sister Bonnie (Laura Anna-Mead) are struggling with their queer identities, because there are so few potential partners here. Their "easily spread" mother Flora (Baldwin) runs the local shop and is also on the prowl, while the villainous Cornelius (Chris Lane) plots against everyone. His big secret is that his cursed beastly brother Charlie (Johnson) is locked up in the family's Traitors-esque castle, and soon both Flora and Bertie get stuck there as well. Flora gets on with the resident ghosts, cooking bouncy scones and a shenanigan-filled Christmas dinner, while Bertie and Charlie of course have a more romantic trajectory.

The plot is resolutely simplistic, but the snappy dialog gives the actors a lot to work with. There's a barrage of hilarious zingers, current political asides and lots of references to the Disney classic. Indeed, the fabulously irreverent pastiche songs include Be Our Slave, crooned by the castle ghosts. And the climactic scene on Cornelius' drilling platform resounds to the strains of Village People-style anthem On an Oil Rig. Romance is on the cards for everyone, as Flora falls for local Harris (Ben Mabberley) and Bonnie meets the tourist Juno (Dani Mirels) and settles down alarmingly quickly.

While Baldwin owns the stage with his razor-sharp timing, iconic costume changes and astonishingly snappy improv, the skilful surrounding cast hold their own. Kennedy is an endearing hero who is very easy to root for, creating terrific chemistry with Johnson's amusingly tetchy beast. Both are able to punch the comedy while also finding deeper resonance. Everyone has a lot of fun with the elaborate costumes, witty songs and riotous Highland Fling-inspired choreography. Most impressive is how the show manages to be both silly and sexy at the same time, with a happy ending that comes complete with an enticingly dubious moral.

For details, HE'S BEHIND YOU! >

photos by Steve Gregson • 4.Dec.25

Stage: As merry as the day is long

SH!T-FACED SHAKESPEARE
Much Ado About Nothing
by William Shakespeare
adaptation Lewis Ironside
director Stacey Norris
with Beth-Louise Priestley, Flora Sowerby, Holly Durkin, Stacey Norris, John Mitton, Matthew Seager, Chris Lane
Leicester Square Theatre, London • 5.Jul-9.Sep.23

The Sh!t-faced Shakespeare gang returns to London, taking on Shakespeare's beloved romantic-comedy Much Ado About Nothing. Their unique selling point is that one cast member has consumed quite a lot of alcohol before the curtain rises, which so fellow actors are required to improvise their way through scenes that have been thrown into chaos.

Priestley is the host for the evening, rushing around with an airhorn trying to keep things from going too far off the rails. To some success. She also gives a few audience members noise makers, which they can sound to give the inebriated actor another drink. For this performance, Sowerby is the wobbly one, and she's playing the lead role of Beatrice, whose antagonism for the charming Benedick (Mitton) sets off various rivalries, mistaken identities and love at first sight for Beatrice's aunt Leonata (Norris) and cousin Hero (Durkin), plus Benedick's pals, the lovelorn Claudio (Seager) and snaky Don John (Lane).

Of course, having a drunken Beatrice creates all manner of mayhem on-stage, sparking both inside jokes between the actors and running gags about sexually transmitted diseases, all while everyone tries to keep the story moving forward. The show's co-creator Lewis Ironside has trimmed Shakespeare's text down considerably, and the actors know it so well that they're able to keep the plot moving even when it begins to feel amusingly unrecoverable.

With the electricity of live performance, this generally out of control approach is hilarious to watch, as the performers tease each other and the audience, trying to both sabotage and rescue the production at the same time. Their quick wit is riotously funny, and the generally silly atmosphere is infectious. This isn't the deepest of Shakespeare's comedies, so turning it into such a ridiculously absurd farce isn't much of a problem. Indeed, it's pure escapist joy.

And because the cast members swap roles from night to night, including the one who's drunk, this is the kind of show that would be a lot of fun to revisit over and over again. 

For information, visit SH!TFACED SHOWS >

photos by AB Photography • 12.Jul.23

Stage: Be yourself tonight

Tommy on Top
by Chris Woodley
dir Bryan Hodgson
with Alex Hulme, Lucas Livesey, Chris Lane, Megan Armstrong, Bridgett Amofah, Becky Sanneh
Above the Stag Theatre, Vauxhall • 28.Jul-29.Aug.21

With a blissfully silly sense of humour, this farcical comedy is nonstop entertainment that's guaranteed to put a smile firmly on our face. And along with a stream of raucous double entendre, amusingly foul-mouthed dialog and physical slapstick, there's a sharp underlying theme that leaves us with something to think about later. This is another first-rate production from the talented team at Above the Stag, a snappy play staged with colourful flair an attention to detail.

The mayhem centres around Tommy (Hulme), an actor nominated for an Oscar for his lead role in the independent film Splash Mountain. In his Hollywood hotel room, he's preparing for the onslaught of red carpet media attention while also planning something special for the birthday of his stylist boyfriend George (Livesey). Then his hard-partying sister Molly (Armstrong) arrives, as does Tommy's attention-seeking agent Eddie (Lane), who wants him to remain closeted for the sake of both the Oscars and his future career. So Tommy decides to court high-profile agent Judy (Amofah) instead. But gossip blogger Kiki (Sanneh) is digging into rumours that Tommy might not be as straight as he claims to be.

Armstrong and Amofah

Jokes come at a furious pace throughout the show, with goofy punchlines, lacerating satire, asides to the audience, outrageous physicality and some hilarious technical gags. All of the cast members dive fully into the melee, with scene-chomping roles for both Lane and Armstrong. Eddie is a predatory slimeball, constantly ranting about everything to a room full of people who loathe him. That Lane makes him loveable is no mean feat. And Armstrong has the most crazed role, as Molly exuberantly makes everything better and worse at the same time.

At the centre, Hulme's Tommy is sympathetically hapless, keeping the show grounded with his hangdog expression and on/off costumes. His scenes with Livesey are perfectly pitched to provide soulful romance with a witty bite. And both Amofah and Sanneh add some razor-sharp edges. Another star of the show is the lighting (by Joseph Ed Thomas) and sound (by Paul Gavin), cleverly deployed by director Hodgson to inventively punch the comedy to even higher levels.

Hulme

While the general chaos on-stage makes the story feel a bit rushed, it also means there's never a dull moment. The cast and crew pack an astonishing amount of wordplay, sight gags, full-bodied farce, theatre references and rude surprises into the relatively brisk run-time. And it ends with a heartfelt plea for honesty and acceptance that feels urgent at a time when so many major movie stars are unable to be truthful about themselves in public.

29.Jul.21 • Photos by PBG Studios