Review: Flamenc Oh!!, Peacock Theatre

Despite flamenco not being exactly my favourite art form, I’ve certainly seen my share of it: in Seville, in Havana, and several times in London. It’s Mrs F who’s the big fan – she loves it. So I was intrigued by Flamenc Oh!!, which promised something different. “A riotous romp of all things flamenco”, as the marketing blurb puts it. Having now seen it, to paraphrase Mr Spock, I would say “it’s flamenco, Jim, but not as we know it”. 

The premise is that – and once again I quote the marketing blurb – “a strict flamenco patriarch rules his traditional family with an iron hand, where customs and tradition are the law. But the arrival of a new guitarist, bringing fresh musical influences, shakes the very foundations of the clan, leading to hilarious situations and unexpected consequences”. 

Well, I guess “hilarious” depends on your sense of humour. We certainly get plenty of silliness, gurning, and attempts at being funny. There’s a lot of encouragement for the audience to join in by cheering, singing along, and shouting “olé”. And every time the cast incite us to participate, the house lights come up to make absolutely sure we’re doing what we’ve been told. Every so often, a sonorous mid-Atlantic voice explains what’s going on, although I suspect most of us had already got the picture: there’s nothing remotely complicated about the “plot” of Flamenc Oh!!. 

As well as audience participation, there’s some rudimentary magic, lots of pulling silly faces and putting on odd voices, and even cross-dressing. About halfway through, I realised we were witnessing the birth of a new genre of dance theatre, one I’ve christened Pantomenco. I know the Spanish don’t have a great tradition of pantomime, and this may be its only example, but the two genres are combined with remarkable enthusiasm. As well as traditional flamenco music, we also get modern songs including ‘Purple Rain’, ‘Moon River’ and ‘Only You’, while a dance-off in a boxing ring between the brother and sister is accompanied by ‘Eye of the Tiger’ – what else?

Having said all that, David Bastidas, as the patriarch, has a superb voice and wears a dress with considerable aplomb. The three dancers, Raquel Ortega, Anabel Moreno and Raúl Ortega, are excellent (if only we’d seen more of them), and that’s coming from someone who isn’t exactly first in the queue for flamenco. Luis Gallo is a wonderful guitarist, equally impressive when playing traditional music or rocking out with more contemporary sounds.

There’s nothing subtle or nuanced about Flamenc Oh!! – I suppose the two exclamation marks give the game away. Every gesture is huge and blasted directly at the audience and, although the show is only eighty minutes long, at times it feels like a bit of a battering. I’m also not entirely sure whether the eighty minutes includes the encore, which we missed because we thought the show had finished (as did many others) and left, only to hear the strains of another singalong  – this time ‘Volare’ – following us out into the chilly, autumnal air.

So Flamenc Oh!! definitely isn’t one for the purists – there probably just isn’t enough traditional flamenco to satisfy them. As for Mrs F, did she love it? Well, not a lot. But the rest of the audience seemed to be having a wonderful time, so perhaps there really is an appetite for Pantomenco after all.

Artistic Direction by David Ottone and Juan Ramos
Choreography by Carlos Chamorro
Set Design by Carlos Brayda
Lighting Design by Juani González Vega
Sound Design by Luis López Segovia
Magic by Willy Monroe

Flamenc Oh!! plays at the Peacock Theatre until Saturday 10 October.