Tag Archives: Jonathan Evans

THE LIGHTNING THIEF: THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL

★★★

The Other Palace

THE LIGHTNING THIEF: THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL

The Other Palace

★★★

“Impressively staged, it is indeed truly fantastical.”

What started out as a bedtime story for his nine-year-old son quickly evolved into a global publishing phenomenon that outstripped the writer Rick Riordan’s dreams. A five-book series of fantasy novels was followed by two feature films, a television series and video game. In an age where you can’t turn a stone without finding a musical under it, this was the natural next step. Joe Tracz is behind the book, while Rob Rokicki has adapted Riordan’s take on the Greek myths with a high energy bolt of musical lightning, that struck Broadway in 2020 and is now lighting up London’s stage.

“The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical”, for those who don’t know (and I didn’t… I must have been living under that upturned stone), is a reimagined mash-up of the Greek myths, crash landed in the twenty-first century. Percy Jackson, a bit of a misfit who has a habit of being expelled from school, discovers he is the ‘half-blood’ son for Poseidon. While reluctantly attending a summer camp for demigods, he quickly finds himself on a dangerous quest to locate and bring back Zeus’s lost Master Bolt. Teaming up with fellow demigods, Grover and Annabeth, they go on all sorts of adventures, escaping hellhounds, furies, lotus-eaters and narrative logic. Naturally Percy returns a hero (that’s no spoiler) with the lightning bolt intact and a soaring tune full of well-worn messages.

Despite some genuinely funny moments, it takes itself rather seriously in a teen kind of way. The opening number drums into us that ‘The Gods Are Real’ without any apparent irony, as though we should be taking notes. Being normal is the real myth here. The things that make you different are the things that make you strong (read that sentence like you’re belting a rock anthem, and you get the picture). The musical numbers are delivered throughout in a storm of pizzazz, the volume turned up high and, although many numbers blend into another, the tunes have enough snap, crackle and pop to become catchy earworms. Director and choreographer, Lizzi Gee, keeps the pace fast and furious while the cast crank up the fun-factor to feverish levels.

Morgan Gregory gives a well-balanced mix of nerdiness and fearlessness to the hapless hero, Percy Jackson. Vocally cutting through the bombast of the band he skilfully takes us on his epic journey with him. Lizzy-Rose Esin-Kelly is a gutsy Annabeth, the daughter of Athena while Angus Benstead’s Grover is a nervous satyr. There is much multi-rolling within the ensemble cast, and many costume changes. Caricature invariably displaces nuance, but amid the chaos Paisley Billing, as Percy’s mother (among other characters) smooths and softens the action with her controlled performance and expressive, velvet voice.

But for the most part, there is a cartoon quality to the production in which grating tones and shouty voices dominate. It is as though our attention span is assumed to be low, with the rapid-fire, episodic progression of events that whisk us through Percy’s quest as he runs up against Gods and Monsters in equal measure. We end up feeling a little giddy but can’t really complain as it’s nothing compared to what the performers must be feeling. A whirlwind of a show, that tosses its plotlines into the tornado with so much abandon that we lose track and ultimately cease to care. Visually it is a treat, and it probably helps to be familiar with Riordan’s novels. Impressively staged, it is indeed truly fantastical. With clearer storytelling, more light and shade and more respect for the mythology, it could also be fantastic.



THE LIGHTNING THIEF: THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL

The Other Palace

Reviewed on 22nd March 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Manuel Harlan

 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

HOMO ALONE | ★★★ | December 2024
JULIE: THE MUSICAL | ★★½ | June 2024
CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE 90s MUSICAL | ★★★★ | January 2024
A VERY VERY BAD CINDERELLA | ★★★★ | December 2023
TROMPE L’OEIL | ★★★ | September 2023
DOM – THE PLAY | ★★★★ | February 2023
GHOSTED – ANOTHER F**KING CHRISTMAS CAROL | ★★★★★ | December 2022
GLORY RIDE | ★★★ | November 2022
MILLENNIALS | ★★★ | July 2022

 

THE LIGHTNING THIEF

THE LIGHTNING THIEF

THE LIGHTNING THIEF

SISYPHEAN QUICK FIX 

★★★

Riverside Studios

SISYPHEAN QUICK FIX 

Riverside Studios

★★★

“The performances by Paris and Tina Rizzo remain as strong throughout”

No one who is actually fine says ‘I’m fine’. A line we hear often in life, and more than once in Bettina Paris’ play “Sisyphean Quick Fix”. So, when London-based struggling actor, Krista, asks her sister how their father is – and she responds with a shoulder-shrugging ‘he’s fine’ – we know that’s not true. The sister, Pip (Tina Rizzo), still lives in Malta where they grew up. Krista left to pursue her dream, which is on the cusp of being attained although she is currently a penniless, stressed barmaid. The siblings have comparisons and contrasts. Pip is a career woman, dresses smartly and has the luxury of slowly chewing over a marriage proposal. Krista meanwhile is unlucky in love and life but unbound by expectations. What they do share, however, is a strong childhood bond. And an alcoholic father. The feelings of responsibility are equal, but what is contentious is each other’s share of the burden (especially as Krista lives far away). The play steers through the minefield of emotions as their father’s illness deteriorates.

Paris herself plays Krista and, apparently, the subject is based on real life experience. She has a natural onstage presence that puts us at ease. The opening scenes are light-hearted and full of expressive and witty dialogue that firmly establishes the sisters’ strong bond and affectionate rivalry. Nicky Allpress’ slick and intuitive direction creates two separate worlds that eventually converge into one. Initially, Oliver McNally’s lighting separates these worlds, bathing Pip’s Malta in a rusty glow while Krista’s London has the cold, hazy hues of the ‘Big Smoke’. A middle ground is found when Krista travels back to Malta.

Unfortunately, it is in the middle ground where the writing starts to get too comfortable. And the stakes don’t feel quite as high as they should. The performances by Paris and Tina Rizzo remain as strong throughout, but the offstage characters come to us second-hand without really coming to life. They wonderfully show us the effects their father has on their lives, yet the complexities of the causes remain underexplored, weakening the heart of the matter. The focus is still very much on Pip and Krista. And a wonderful, honest portrayal of their relationship it is. But although we get a sense of the sacrifices they make, we don’t feel the force of the circumstances that drive their decisions.

Ubiquitous questions surface: ‘could we have done more?’ or ‘we’re going to be okay?’ – the latter weighed down by its oversized question mark. Admittedly there are no definitive answers but in this play the questions seem a touch unearned. The title alludes to the Greek myth of Sisyphus, who was condemned to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down every time it neared the top – repeating the action for eternity. In contemporary culture, tasks that are considered laborious or futile are described as Sisyphean. “Sisyphean Quick Fix”, however, is quite the opposite. Played out in short, fractured scenes there is an effortlessness to the staging that deals with an important, pertinent and universal topic. Which paradoxically also creates the problem – we don’t fully grasp the real struggle. The finely crafted writing needs just a few more sharp edges for it to cut through beyond the skin.



SISYPHEAN QUICK FIX 

Riverside Studios

Reviewed on 19th March 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Marusia Makhmutova

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

SECOND BEST | ★★★★ | February 2025
HERE YOU COME AGAIN | ★★★★ | December 2024
DECK THE STALLS | ★★★ | December 2024
THE UNSEEN | ★★★★ | November 2024
FRENCH TOAST | ★★★★ | October 2024
KIM’S CONVENIENCE | ★★★ | September 2024
THE WEYARD SISTERS | ★★ | August 2024
MADWOMEN OF THE WEST | ★★ | August 2024
MOFFIE | ★★★ | June 2024
KING LEAR | ★★★★ | May 2024

 

 

SISYPHEAN QUICK FIX

SISYPHEAN QUICK FIX

SISYPHEAN QUICK FIX