River Medway Archives - thespyinthestalls.com

★★★★

“This is a very funny show indeed, complemented beautifully by Tim Gilvin’s pastiche score”

Everybody loves a villain. Which is why, in recent years, our favourite Disney miscreants have stepped forward to take centre stage in their stories, such as ‘Cruella’ from The One Hundred and One Dalmatians, or ‘Maleficent’ from Sleeping Beauty. They usually remain the villain, relishing the boos and hisses that feed them. But what if they want to convince you that, at heart, they weren’t the ‘bad guy’ after all. A large chunk of “Unfortunate: the Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch” allows Ursula to present her mitigating circumstances. She ain’t ‘bad’ really. But she is ‘badass’.

Shawna Hamic well and truly gets the jury on her side as the loveable ‘octogirl’, tearing up our preconceptions of the hag and throwing them overboard. She captains the ship, steering the show through the scandals, sex and subversive salaciousness of the story. It is a choppy sea, whipped up by hailstorms of catchy tunes, slapstick, jokes, innuendo and overblown, camp-as-Christmas performances. The production has come a long way from its Edinburgh Fringe origins, mooring up in Southwark before embarking on a nationwide tour in the New Year. Its growth in popularity seems unstoppable. Unfortunately, so does its growth in length, and somebody needs to step in to stem the swelling.

Having been treated to a potted backstory depicting Ursula and Triton growing up together, from squabbling schoolkids to teenage sweethearts, we dive into the crux of the tale. Following the unfortunate dissection of a sea cucumber named Kirsty, Ursula is framed and banished to the dark waters of the ocean. Flash forward twenty years and Triton, a single dad, is having a hard time with his youngest daughter, Ariel. Thomas Lowe, all glitter and beard, is a delightfully dumb king of the sea who fails to rein in his daughter’s sexual curiosities. Or rather, in Ariel’s own words, her desire to be ‘where the dicks are’ (one of the many earworm numbers). River Medway is the lewd and lascivious Ariel who falls for Jamie Mawson’s dumber than dumb Prince Eric. To get the man though, the woman must ‘lose her voice’ – so croons Ursula in one of the many satirical messages that pepper the production.

Among the high camp, excessive and heightened delivery, a standout performance is Allie Dart, as Sebastian the crab. Swapping the Jamaican accent for Irish, Dart pinpoints – and joins in – the joyful ridiculousness of it all. Doubling up as Colette the French chef, she delivers another of the musical highlights, ‘Les Poissons’, which showcases the intelligence of the text and lyrics that is often drowned in the waves of razzamatazz. But as a spectacle, “Unfortunate…” is an absolute triumph. Abby Clarke is the unseen star of the show, whose set, costume and puppetry are worth the ticket price alone.

There is nothing Disney about this show whatsoever, a fact that is wondrously celebrated in the number ‘We Didn’t Make it Disney’. The writers, Robyn Grant and Daniel Foxx, have no eye on the family audience at all. But they do have an eye for comedy. This is a very funny show indeed, complemented beautifully by Tim Gilvin’s pastiche score. Chaotic and camp, full of sex and sorcery, mayhem and madness, it is an oceanic treat. You can’t just dip your toe in, you need to dive headlong. The shock as it washes over you is exhilarating and invigorating. Go on, take the plunge. You’ll need stamina to weather the storm (yes – I’ve mentioned it already – it does overstretch itself) but it is worth it.

Dick Whittington

Phoenix Theatre

Reviewed – 12th December 2021

★★★★

“will get nearly anyone clapping and singing along with its glittery charm”

The tale of Dick Whittington and his cat is a Christmas classic with the future Lord Mayor of London’s valiant work of ridding the country of rats by way of his feline friend having delighted theatre-goers for hundreds of years. TuckShop, founded by Christopher D. Clegg and director of their new Christmas show, offers a new interpretation; one that dives headfirst into camp absurdity and is no stranger to a double entendre.

And what better story for a drag reimagining than one with a Dick and a Pussy (Cat) as its stars! The newly opened Dick Whittington at The Phoenix Theatre boasts an incredible cast familiar to any Drag Race fan.

Drag Race UK Season One favourite Cheryl Hole plays the titular role accompanied by Elektra Fence as her loyal feline Cat Slater (“with a C, because it’s different!”) in their mission to defeat the Rat King (Season Three alumnus Choriza May) who threatens to overrun Soho with her rodent minions. The duo meets all sorts of colourful characters on their quest, from Dame Sarah Can’t Cook Won’t Cook (Yshee Black) and her daughter (and inevitable love interest) Alice (River Medway) to the incredible Ophelia Love as ‘Ensemble Member No. 4’ who makes the most of her variety of small roles from safe to angry Yorkshireman.

Drag kings Richard Energy and the smooth-taking Beau Jangles play marital shop owner Daddy Fitzwarren and the Lord Mayor respectively, and the intoxicating Kitty Scott Clause guides the story chaotically along as the Spirit of Soho.

Hole is a wonderful lead and brings the most professionalism to the cast whilst Fence provides a great foil for Hole’s enthusiastic Dick (no pun intended) and keeps the audience engaged with regular call and response. May brings her signature flare to her villainous casting and dazzles in stunning neon green and black outfits and Kitty leaves both the audience and fellow cast mates in stitches at her absurd ad libs (including a Cilla Black impersonation).

Medway is not the most confident on stage, but it is no surprise as she understudies for Australian queen Karen From Finance who tested positive for Covid during the week. Given only two days to learn the script, Medway does surprisingly well and plays up to her lack of rehearsal time in the second half particularly to much laughter.

The audience is treated to a mix of live singing and lip syncs. Stand-out performances are delivered by Jangles with his swing version of Cardi B’s WAP and the outrageously filthy 12 Days of Christmas parody featuring bags of cocaine, dildos and leather whips led by Energy. The show, of course, could not miss the opportunity to host a lip sync for your life in true Ru Paul style and poke fun at Medway and May’s shock double-elimination in Season Three. Indeed, references to the UK series are abound and without at least a base knowledge of the show and each queen’s performance in their respective season, several jokes are lost.

The set is not particularly inspired – a basic backdrop of a London alley with post box – but the panto is limited by musical Come From Away playing on the same stage for much of the week. The set’s simplicity is most notable when the characters board a ship with only paper sailor hats to show their change of scenery, but this is played well for laughs.

More disappointing perhaps was the lighting which was often ill-used – many times, the speaker was shrouded in darkness, the spotlight on some other part of the stage entirely. The sound was also poorly executed at times. The soundtrack – both original songs and covers – is great but backing tracks boom over live singing with Kitty completely drowned out in her opening number as one example. However, as the show leans into its unpolished character, it is hard to be too upset about these oversights.

This new production of Dick Whittington is incredible fun and will get nearly anyone clapping and singing along with its glittery charm. For a night of drag ridiculousness this festive season, this is the show to see.

UNFORTUNATE at Southwark Playhouse Elephant

★★★★

“This is a very funny show indeed, complemented beautifully by Tim Gilvin’s pastiche score”

UNFORTUNATE at Southwark Playhouse Elephant

Reviewed on 14th December 2023

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Pamela Raith

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Unfortunate

Unfortunate

Phoenix Theatre

Reviewed – 12th December 2021

★★★★

“will get nearly anyone clapping and singing along with its glittery charm”

And what better story for a drag reimagining than one with a Dick and a Pussy (Cat) as its stars! The newly opened Dick Whittington at The Phoenix Theatre boasts an incredible cast familiar to any Drag Race fan.

Drag kings Richard Energy and the smooth-taking Beau Jangles play marital shop owner Daddy Fitzwarren and the Lord Mayor respectively, and the intoxicating Kitty Scott Clause guides the story chaotically along as the Spirit of Soho.

This new production of Dick Whittington is incredible fun and will get nearly anyone clapping and singing along with its glittery charm. For a night of drag ridiculousness this festive season, this is the show to see.

Reviewed by Flora Doble

Photography by Corinne Cumming

Dick Whittington

Phoenix Theatre until 9th January

(Tuesdays and Sundays only)

Previously reviewed by Flora this year: