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Some excellent performances, a swampful of colourful costumes and choreography, but with sadly disappointing songs at the core of this musicalSummary
Rating
Good
It’s been about 25 years since Shrek the movie hit the screens, and it is still one of the most popular animated films of all time, renowned for its hilarious characters and its amazing soundtrack – just what you would hope to find at the heart of a stage show based upon it. And tonight the Eventim Apollo is full of families eager to see and hear their familiar favourites.
The plot of this musical version follows the film pretty directly: hideous ogre Shrek (Antony Lawrence) finds a bunch of fairytale folk have taken over his swamp, displaced by evil Lord Farquaad (a wonderfully camp James Gillan) for being ‘freaks’. Shrek is adopted by an overly friendly talking Donkey (Todrick Hall), who accompanies him on a journey to get Farquaad to give him his swamp back, and they are both persuaded to undertake a quest to rescue a princess in a tower for the Lord to marry, thus making him King of Duloc. The princess turns out to be Fiona (Joanne Clifton), who is secretly an ogre too.
There’s certainly a lot for families to like in the colourful, panto-esque performances and costumes. They’ve upped the game bringing in Hall as Donkey for the last six weeks of the run; he’s sassy and sparkling, with a tremendous voice that totally lifts the atmosphere. In fact, he kind of steals the show from under Lawrence, whose Shrek, although solid is generally lacking in humour. There’s also a wider reliance on fart jokes in the script to get the audience laughing, which can only take things so far. Lawrence is ably supported by Clifton as a dynamic Fiona. She brings a rounded, cartoon quality to the performance without losing that touch of feminist icon. And Donkey’s not the only one with a top voice; Cherece Richards as Dragon is a showstopper – just phenomenal! I would really like to have seen more primary use made of her superb skills.
The design work is bold (if a little reminiscent of Wicked), with excellent use of projection by Nina Dunn to move us between locations and draw us into the storytelling world. Philip Whitcomb’s bold costume design suits the panto feel and still allows the dynamic supporting cast to perform some slick, energetic choreography (Nick Winston). Then there are the puppets, designed beautifully by Jimmy Grimes… I do love a puppet, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw adorable little Gingie being tortured. The gorgeous giant Dragon is a true spectacle, soaring round the stage! However, the puppeteering itself is distinctly sloppy, with Gingie just flopping around during his song, lacking in focus, and the operation of Dragon’s mouth and eyes conspicuously out of synch. Could do better guys.
The theme of judging people on their appearance is very current, and allows for a couple of the better tunes; Pinocchio’s ‘Story of My Life’ and the chorus’s animated rendition of ‘Freak Flag’. However, even with an excellent live band there’s something lacking at the core of this musical and it has to come down to the songs. Clearly the film is packed with familiar funky and upbeat classics that build huge atmosphere and support the story. Here the songs are largely rather forgettable and samey. I can’t remember one of them postshow and the closing rendition of ‘I’m a Believer’ only serves to remind you what you’ve missed.
With so many plus points to the production it’s definitely an entertaining watch. But does it capture the essence of the Shrek we know and love? Perhaps not.
Written by: David Lindsay-Abaire
Based on the 2001 film and the novel by: William Steig
Songs by: David Lindsay-Abaire (lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music)
Directed by: Nick Winston and Sam Holmes
Choreography by: Nick Winston
Design by: Philip Witcomb
Costumes by: Philip Witcomb
Lighting by: Ben Cracknel
Sound by: Ben Harrison
Projection design by: Nina Dunn
Puppet design by: Jimmy Grimes
Shrek the Musical runs at Eventim Apollo until Saturday 31 August. Further information and tickets available here.
