★★★★

“You come away feeling slightly giddy, but feeling good”

With the proliferation of new musicals roller coasting into theatreland, you’d think it hard to find an original subject to base one around. Currently, there seem to be two ways to go; either you can dredge up an old, safe favourite or else take the quirky route and think outside the box. Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell are obviously advocates of the latter. Six teenagers who die in a freak accident on a fairground ride is an unlikely starting point. A hard sell perhaps? “Ride the Cyclone” first appeared on the Canadian fringe in 2009, before heading Off-Broadway, via Chicago, a few years later. It has taken nearly ten years for it to cross the pond for its European premiere in London but, like those long, concertina queues we used to find ourselves in for the latest fairground attraction, it has been worth the wait.

The musical begins with a mysterious and headless girl circling the stage, singing a short song, dreaming of life. Cut to the even more mysterious ‘The Amazing Karnak’ (Edward Wu), a mechanical fortune teller, watching from on high. He is able to predict the exact moment and method of a person’s death. Even his own – which is very imminent, despite him already being in the afterlife (we can overlook this minor quibble) preparing himself to introduce the perished teenagers. Karnak has a game for them. Each will be given the chance to tell their story, in song, to win the chance to return to life. What follows is a cycle of song and monologue that occasionally baffles but always delights with its mix of absurdist humour, candid insight, bizarre ideas, emotional honesty and musical virtuosity. Irreverently frivolous one moment, genuinely heartfelt the next. Admittedly it borders on the saccharine at times, but the writers’ sharp knife always cuts through it in time.

Wu’s Karnak holds the fort like a camp and deadpan Greek God. First up is Ocean, played with real zest by Baylie Carson. Satirically self-important, she still manages to get the others’ backs up, especially best friend Constance (Robyn Gilbertson). We have to wait a while for Constance’s song – ‘Jawbreaker/Sugar Cloud’ – during which Gilbertson truly shines, revealing a deeper character than one who lost her virginity ‘just to get it out of the way’. A highlight of the show is ‘Noel’s Lament’, a gorgeous cabaret pastiche performed by Damon Gould with expert dancing and a velvet voice as he dreams of being a French prostitute. The eclectic quality of the musical numbers is demonstrated when Bartek Kraszewski’s Mischa brilliantly launches into a gangsta rap number complete with a flourish of breakdancing, while Grace Galloway’s headless girl lends her gorgeous operatic soprano to ‘The Ballad of Jane Doe’; a stunning waltz number that induces goosebumps. Then there is Ricky, whose dream of becoming an intergalactic saviour of sexy cat women (don’t ask) is brought to life in song; stunningly performed by Jack Maverick.

Director Lizzi Gee amazingly manages to bring cohesion to this disparate and totally bizarre concoction of life stories. Her choreography is meticulous, adapting itself to each and every genre and musical style seamlessly. There are moments when the inter-song monologues outstay their welcome, but the overall ride still remains on the peaks rather than the troughs. Musical Director Ben McQuigg’s five-piece band mixes power with clarity, and embraces the variety of the repertoire with panache. Every cast member has the vocal, movement and acting skills to tackle the material, making this eccentric show appear to be the most natural and obvious idea for a musical imaginable.

It is a thrilling ride, one which has that sense of danger even though you want to laugh out loud, right up to its upbeat finale. You come away feeling slightly giddy, but feeling good. Against all better judgement you find yourself wanting to join the queue again for another go.

THE FROGS

Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★

“Dan Buckley’s Dionysos and Kevin McHale’s Xanthias make a wonderful double act”

“The Frogs” – the musical ‘freely’ adapted by Stephen Sondheim and Burt Shevelove from the ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes – opens with a paradox. The time is the present and the place is Ancient Greece. This tells us that the writers have given themselves license to tweak (to put it politely) the original for a modern audience. The central premise, however, needs little updating: Aristophanes used his play – at a time of crisis – as a biting satire of politics and religion, bemoaning the corruption inherent in society’s leaders and calling for the rejection of the status quo. Two-and-a-half-thousand years on we can pretty much still relate to that. What the writers have done is sprinkle it with contemporary references, added a fair dose of Sondheim’s inimitable music and lyrics and, with the help of Nathan Lane (‘even more freely’ adapted) dished up a couple of hours of mind-bogglingly, zany and funny – but inconsistent – musical theatre.

The title is a touch misleading. Yes, there are frogs. Frogs that populate the River Styx (of course!) and close Act One with a droll and incisive choral number; but beyond that they barely make an appearance. What “The Frogs” focuses on is the epic journey of Dionysos and his slave Xanthias into the Underworld and back in a bid to put the world to rights. Dionysos believes only art can save civilisation but contemporary dramatists aren’t up to scratch, so he decides ‘to go to Hell and back’ (this particular joke is milked for all its worth) to bring George Bernard Shaw back from the dead. He finds Shakespeare down there, constantly at loggerheads with Shaw. The two of them end up fighting it out in a linguistic dual, competing to see which one Dionysos will choose to accompany him back to the land of the living.

The journey is a bit of a meandering rollercoaster. Or rather log-flume, or water-chute. Although mercifully no water tanks have been employed to create a realistic representation of the Styx. Instead, Samuel Biondolillo’s evocative lighting, and Libby Todd’s clever breakaway set depict the worlds we travel through. Dan Buckley’s Dionysos and Kevin McHale’s Xanthias make a wonderful double act. They don’t break the fourth wall, they just take it for granted there isn’t one – which makes their on-stage chemistry and affectionate rivalry as master and slave, even more of a delight to be immersed in. They draw us into the story with ease, and we are willing accomplices. Joaquin Pedro Valdes is having great fun as the ab-flexing Herakles. Carl Patrick’s boatman Charon ups the fun stakes, veering dangerously close to indulgent, but Georgie Rankcom’s strong directorial hand keeps the cast firmly in check, possibly with the exception of Victoria Scone, as Pluto, who brings her Drag Race persona crashing onto the stage with the confidence of a fully-fledged Goddess. (Scone plays Pluto only until 31st May, after which a rota of other performers takes a week each).

The comedy’s sharpness is honed during the later stages of the show, when Bart Lambert’s Shakespeare and Martha Pothen’s Bernard Shaw tackle each other with words like drunkards brawling with bottles. Lambert’s and Pothen’s comic timing and grasp of their respective character’s linguistic styles is extraordinary and the humour, whilst more subtle, becomes increasingly satisfying the more it ditches its pantomime pizzazz.

More of a play with music than a musical, “The Frogs” is full of anachronisms and topical updates that bring the message closer to a contemporary audience. Even closer than the musical’s 1970s premiere, with references to influencers and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Bad Cinderella’ – among many others. This does add to the already heady mix of styles that can be a bit alienating, and the pointed political commentary (‘you get the leader you deserve’ for example) is a touch blunt and predictable. But there is no denying the sheer sense of fun, anarchy and silliness. Definitely worth hopping along to.

RIDE THE CYCLONE

Southwark Playhouse Elephant

★★★★

“You come away feeling slightly giddy, but feeling good”

RIDE THE CYCLONE

Southwark Playhouse Elephant

Reviewed on 19th November 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Danny Kaan

Recently reviewed at Southwark Playhouse venues:

RIDE THE CYCLONE

RIDE THE CYCLONE

RIDE THE CYCLONE

THE FROGS

Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★

“Dan Buckley’s Dionysos and Kevin McHale’s Xanthias make a wonderful double act”

THE FROGS

Southwark Playhouse Borough

Reviewed on 27th May 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Pamela Raith

Last ten shows reviewed at Southwark Playhouse venues:

THE FROGS

THE FROGS

THE FROGS

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