THEGAYUK

Tag: Theatre Review

All the latest breaking news on theatre in the UK. Browse THEGAYUK’s complete collection of news, articles and commentary on LGBT+ theatre in the UK.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | An Officer and a Gentleman – The Musical – National Tour

    ★★★☆☆ | An Officer and a Gentleman

    Officer and a Gentleman review

    Based on the classic film of the same name, An Officer and A Gentleman tells the story of Zack Mayo, a trainee fighter pilot who is from the wrong side of the tracks and is trying to make his way through the Naval Academy. Paula is a local girl working in a factory where she and her colleagues see the only way of escaping their humdrum lives is by being swept off their feet by a pilot and whisked away. But what starts off as a little bit of fun between the two of them becomes something more, but will either of them admit their true feelings?

    The show, and the first act in particular, thunders across the stage with dizzying speed and a relentless energy, in a production which is noisy, loud, bold and incredibly unsubtle; where a collision of lighting, sound, projected images, live music and a barrage of costume changes combine to be the absolute antithesis of the “less is more” school of thought.

    Jonny Fines makes for an appealing enough lead as Zack Mayo, with his ridiculously ripped form and a wry smile, nestling in nicely alongside his fellow recruits who appeared to have been hand-picked primarily for their pecs and ‘ceps appeal.  But despite the testosterone-fuelled world depicted in the story, the stage belonged firmly to the female ensemble, bringing some decent vocal performances to lift the broadly functional performances of the cast.

    Nikolai Foster’s direction takes the scattergun approach of throwing sufficient tricks, bells and whistles at the audience in the hope that some of them will stick, with a roughly even split of hits and misses. The show is set to an eclectic mix of 80’s classics, the musical numbers varied in terms of quality and performance, with a belting rendition of Alone by Emma Williams only serving to highlight the pub circuit stylings of some of the other musical numbers. There is a mix of soft rock classics (“I Want to Know what Love is”, “The Final Countdown”), some bubble-gum pop (“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”, “Material Girl”) and some of the lesser celebrated 80’s staples (“Hearts on Fire”, “Working for the Weekend”) compounding the scattergun feel of the show, but not necessarily in a bad way.

    But that is where the show really hits its stride. It never pretends to be anything other than what it is intended to be, namely a fun, cheesy and fairly corny slice of entertaining escapism. By the time the show draws to a conclusion with its iconic ending set to a sweeping rendition of Up Where We Belong, you can’t help but be suckered in by the feel-good factor of this slice of 80’s cheese.

    An Officer and A Gentleman is currently at Sheffield Theatres until the 9th June 2018 before continuing on its national tour

    BOOK TICKETS HERE

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Titanic, The Musical, King’s Theatre Glasgow

    THEATRE REVIEW | Titanic, The Musical, King’s Theatre Glasgow

    ★★★☆☆ | Titanic – The Musical – King’s Theatre Glasgow

    Titanic - The Musical - National Tour review

    **This review was taken from the Sheffield production**

    Despite it being over 100 years since Titanic slipped under the waves, the fascination with the ship and those on board hasn’t faded, as evidenced by the packed house of this revival of Moury Yeston’s musical. The story of the ships maiden voyage and, ultimately, its demise is told through a wealth of characters from all classes of passengers and from the crew on board.

    The set, all sheet metal and rivets, towers above the audience instilling in them the impression of the sheer scale of the ship whilst a simple two-tier stage evoked an image of the decks and worked effectively. But from the off, the cast were on top form, as the magnificent ensemble belted out the opening numbers with such gusto that it reverberated in the chest, like the sounds of the engines of the great ship itself.

    And therein lays the strength of this production. Its cast was outstanding, and whether singing alone, in small groups or as an ensemble, the whole thing was beautifully sung and more akin to an opera than a musical. The three leads Philip Rham, Simon Green and Greg Castiglioni bounced off each other nicely as the Captain, owner and designer of the ship, and Niall Sheeny impressed as the stoker Fred Barrett. Whilst the direction was fairly minimal, the cast switched between their multiple roles seamlessly, spilling out into the aisles on occasions to engage the audience; whilst on a technical level, the lighting and sound design, the costumes and the balance between actors voices and orchestra were all absolutely spot on.

    Sadly, an overly long runtime, a handful of similar-sounding songs and a few too many story threads anchored down the first act to an extent, but the second act picked up the pace as the race to abandon ship took hold.

    What comes out of the production is an underlying theme of love between the characters, from the newlyweds to the eloping couple to the elderly husband and wife, and it is this which packs the emotional punch and brings the human cost of the tragedy sharply into focus.

    Book tickets to see Titanic, The Musical at King’s Theatre Glasgow until 2nd June 2018

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Titanic, The Musical, Sheffield Lyceum

    THEATRE REVIEW | Titanic, The Musical, Sheffield Lyceum

    ★★★☆☆ | Titanic – The Musical – Sheffield Lyceum

    Titanic - The Musical - National Tour review

    Titanic – The Musical – National Tour reviewDespite it being over 100 years since Titanic slipped under the waves, the fascination with the ship and those on board hasn’t faded, as evidenced by the packed house of this revival of Moury Yeston’s musical. The story of the ships maiden voyage and, ultimately, its demise is told through a wealth of characters from all classes of passengers and from the crew on board.

    The set, all sheet metal and rivets, towers above the audience instilling in them the impression of the sheer scale of the ship whilst a simple two-tier stage evoked an image of the decks and worked effectively. But from the off, the cast were on top form, as the magnificent ensemble belted out the opening numbers with such gusto that it reverberated in the chest, like the sounds of the engines of the great ship itself.

    And therein lays the strength of this production. Its cast was outstanding, and whether singing alone, in small groups or as an ensemble, the whole thing was beautifully sung and more akin to an opera than a musical. The three leads Philip Rham, Simon Green and Greg Castiglioni bounced off each other nicely as the Captain, owner and designer of the ship, and Niall Sheeny impressed as the stoker Fred Barrett. Whilst the direction was fairly minimal, the cast switched between their multiple roles seamlessly, spilling out into the aisles on occasions to engage the audience; whilst on a technical level, the lighting and sound design, the costumes and the balance between actors voices and orchestra were all absolutely spot on.

    Sadly, an overly long runtime, a handful of similar-sounding songs and a few too many story threads anchored down the first act to an extent, but the second act picked up the pace as the race to abandon ship took hold.

    What comes out of the production is an underlying theme of love between the characters, from the newlyweds to the eloping couple to the elderly husband and wife, and it is this which packs the emotional punch and brings the human cost of the tragedy sharply into focus.

    Titanic – The Musical is at the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield  until Saturday 26th May 2018 before continuing on its national tour

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella

    ★★★★★ | Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella

    Matthew Bourne's Cinderella review

    From the muted grey-scale colour palette of the opening act, through the smoke-filled streets of the Blitz and onto the underground dance halls of war-torn London, Matthew Bourne’s bold,  vivid and visually stunning reimagining of Cinderella is an utter delight. Doting to her father, mercilessly teased by her (extended) stepfamily and berated by her stepmother, Cinderella finds love amongst the destruction, as she falls for Harry, a dashing pilot.

    Bourne creates a world which is rich in characterisations, from the transformation of the mouse-like Cinderella into the belle of the ball to the Cruella de Ville style stepmother and the humorous, and deliciously creepy, foot-fetishist stepbrother. Every dancer tells an individual story, and each character has their own tale to tell. Yet despite having so much to look at, Bourne’s choreography seamlessly blends dance styles including lindy hop, jazz and ballet to create a clearly defined and easy to follow narrative; and there is a tangible sense of atmosphere permeating the theatre both within and throughout every scene. But underneath the fairy tale spectacle of it all, is a slightly darker story of love, yearning and belonging, bringing with it the power to pack an emotional punch.

    In a cast of technically precise dancers, Ashley Shaw is captivating as the titular heroine, whilst Andrew Monaghan simply excelled as he cut a swathe across the floor as the dashing pilot, proving that the romanticised notion of the leading man is still very much around. Lez Brotherston’s set design is superb, reflecting the hum-drum monotony of Cinderella’s home life in Act 1 before (quite literally) exploding into a riot of colour and movement in the second act and continuing to surprise well into Act 3. The show has a cinematic quality and feel to it, and is as inventive and multi-layered as it is visually exciting.

    Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella is a phenomenal breath-taking production which is absolutely sublime on every level.

    The show runs at Sheffield Lyceum Theatre until 19th May 2018 before continuing on its national tour. New Adventures has recently announced a new national tour for Swan Lake for 2018/19

  • THEATRE REVIEW | How It Is By Samuel Beckett, Coronet Print Room Theatre

    ★★★★☆ | How It Is

    How It Is By Samuel Beckett, Coronet Print Room Theatre
    How It Is By Samuel Beckett, Coronet Print Room Theatre

    Do I have to slide cocks up my a** to write about gay theatre? Or shag up-for-it nymphomaniacs to dissect heterosexual art? By that logic, I’d have to be a practicing serial killer, a Jeffrey Dahmer in pantyhose, to appreciate Silence of the Lambs! So – having exposed and pushed the absurdities of that laughably reductive thinking waaaay to one side, let’s objectively appraise How It Is, a purgatorial, afterlife masterpiece from the fevered genius of Samuel Beckett, one of Ireland’s greatest ever writers!

    Never heard of him? Oh come now, that’s barely credible. Why, Waiting for Godot, Beckett’s theatrical debut, revealed prodigious, game-changing talent, sufficient to alter the entire course of the Western world’s modes of dramatic discourse. Simply put, Beckett, most often, dramatises monologuing consciousness on either the point of death, or immediately beyond, in some utterly unknowable afterlife. And it’s that sense of psychological extremity – going where no queens have gone before – that knots his artistic DNA firmly into the fabulous beyond that defines so much LGBT theatre. Again and again – as in Alexis Gregory’s recently-staged Sex/Crime – diversity drama routinely accesses states of mind, situations and politically contested identity wholly unknown to heterosexual, mainstream audiences. To name just three, K-holes, cum lollies and sauna-house sex-orgies barely enter the dreams, or stain the yearning nightmares, of Joe and Jill Public. Frankly, considered as the ripe, luscious and shockingly perverse fruits of an entire community, LGBT artistry has charged and enlarged subject matter inconceivable to previous, genteel and sexually lobotomised, generations.

    Still, Beckett – even if his work owes virtually nothing to any known form of sexual persuasion – takes us on exhilarating journeys to the limits of human consciousness. Think viciously addictive K-holes laced with severe existentialism, as we’re plunged, repeatedly, into theatrical experiences offering little more than static performers ranting in sparsely-lit spaces. How, then, can such raw, spartan materials provide riveting, arse-clenching excitement?

    Easily. Take the Republic of Ireland’s Gare St. Lazare theatre company, currently unleashing Beckett’s How It Is at Notting Hill’s breathtakingly gorgeous, Art Deco Coronet Print Room theatre. This, frankly, is theatre as psychological assault course; immediately, we’re metaphorically kidnapped, trussed up, and – quite probingly – interrogated. How? Well, by deploying the dramatic equivalent of anal sex – reversing the so-called, ‘natural’ order, replacing exits with unexpected entrances. Which, here, means sitting an audience on the stage and setting the actors – and action – in the raked stalls and balcony circling that stage.

    Disconcerting? As f*ck – instantly, and just as in consensual S&M, one’s constrained yet feels a paradoxical sense of liberation, of being fed carefully-rationed ecstasies that permit joy only by strictly-directed pathways. And – make no mistake – theatre rarely comes any bleaker, with such huge demands blissfully rewarding rapt attention.

    Ultimately, this is theatre raw, stripped and immediate, with a narrative as brief, stark and thrillingly erotic as Christ being summarily condemned and crucified. Initially, one lone voice in the darkness – an unnamed narrator – speaks of three states of existence, being alone, with, and finally without ‘Pim’, his or her presumed companion. Three performers – Conor Lovett, Stephen Dillane and Mel Mercier – tackle Beckett’s dense, repetitive text like an overlapping, choral immersion in stately sonic tidal waves, as, gradually, a narrative – of sorts – emerges.

    Naked, an unnamed soul slithers in endless mud and darkness clutching a sack inexhaustibly – and inexplicably – replenished with cans of sardines. He’s joined -again inexplicably- by another, communicating by jabbing a can-opener in the other’s buttocks, stabbing out Morse code messages. Yes, it’s a submissive, role-playing queen’s ultimate wet-dream, but – with nothing except intermittent bursts of light, dry ice, and the hoarse rubbing of actor’s voices in transfixed cadences – we’re collectively cajoled into instantaneously synthesising Beckett’s purgatorial hell inside our minds. If theatre, finally, is nothing, but voices, lights, gestures and consenting imagination, the Gare St. Lazare company take that haphazard, shockingly artistic marriage to sheer transcendence. We wait, quite simply, in delighted awe for their future liaisons with the shatteringly bleak -but dramatically irresistible- voices of Samuel Beckett.

     

    How It Is By Samuel Beckett @ Coronet Print Room Theatre, Notting Hill Gate to May 19th. 0203-642-6606. 4 Stars!

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Chess, London Coliseum

    ★★★ | Chess, London Coliseum

    Chess is a show about Chess……and it sort of works!

    This new production is its first in London’s West End in over 30 years. With music and lyrics by Tim Rice and the two B’s in ABBA (Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, Chess, which deals with the intense chess rivalry between the U.S. and USSR in the cold war days of the 1980s, has a political message that’s just as timely now as it was back then.
    But, you might ask, how exciting is a show about the game of chess? Well, the real answer is not very exciting, nor it is very sexy. Chess can easily be described as an opera, and if opera is your thing, then you’ll will love this show. For the rest of us who like catchy memorable tunes and some razzle-dazzle and great choreography ensemble dancing, i.e. Chicago and almost everything else playing in the West End, then you will be bored at ‘Chess.’ However, Chess, which specifically deals with the rivalry between Anatoly Sergievsky (an amazing Michael Ball) and an inappropriately named Freddie Trumpier (Tim Howar) – both fictional characters – is slow to build, very slow. I was actually quite bored in the first half, but by the end of the show, I was standing on my feet.
    This is not because the storyline is great or the ensemble dancing was amazing (it wasn’t), it’s because of the truly talented singers on stage. Ball, who was the original Phantom in Phantom of the Opera, commands the stage in every song he sings. Cassidy Johnson, who plays Florence, Freddie’s agent who happens to fall in love with Anatoly, is almost as good. Johnson, who most recently played Carole King in ‘Beautiful,’ has quite a few showstoppers, including the famous hit ‘I Know Him So Well.’ Also included in the cast is  X-Factor winner Alexandra Burke, who shows up in the second half, and makes a great effort in playing Anatoly’s suffering wife.
    Chess starts out as Freddie arrives in Russia on a plane, cleverly staged, to take on Anatoly in a chess match to determine who is the world champion. But besides the match, Chess is, as previously mentioned, about the cold war, and the longstanding chess rivalry between both countries. It’s cleverly staged, with cutting edges to resemble a chess board, with video screens that show close up the actor’s facial emotions while they sing. And while some of the musical numbers don’t seem to work (’One Night in Bangkok’ is a bit out of place as well as an over-the-top American cheerleader sequence, and a video tribute to former chess champions has no impact), Sergievsky and Trumpier’s chess rivalry is just as intense as is the political situation between both countries then and now. Would I recommend you taking a gamble to go see Chess? The answer is yes!

    CHESS plays at the London Coliseum until the 2nd June

     

  • THEATRE REVIEW | The Rat Pack – Live From Las Vegas – National Tour

    Falling somewhere between a tribute act and a musical revue, The Rat Pack – Live From Las Vegas, brings together the kings of cool, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davies Jr, as they play a fictional night of variety on the stage of the Sands Hotel. Renowned for their old boy’s club style of camaraderie and songs that defined a generation, the three leads rattle their way through their classics, including You Make Me Feel So Young, That’s Amore, Mack The Knife and My Way.

    With a sparse set and little changing visually throughout the show, there is a reliance on the songs and performances to carry the production. The aces in the pack here are Stephen Triffitt with an intonation and vocal style which is undeniably Sinatra and Nicola Emmanuel with a naturally soulful, jazz infused voice as Ella Fitzgerald. But the show’s greatest strengths lies is in its musical numbers, and whilst the classic status of the songs is undeniable, the real joy was to hear them accompanied by a live orchestra creating a sound which reverberated in your chest, and with not a synthesizer or drum machine in sight.

    Despite its musical prowess, the show stumbles with an over indulgence of on stage banter which grows old and tiresome towards the end, whilst the portrayal of Dean Martin’s alcohol use descended from witty observation into comedic parody; but it was the racist, misogynistic and homophobic jokes which sat the most uncomfortably, and whilst they may have been reflective of the time, there doesn’t feel any reason why they should have been included for a modern audience.

    But there is still plenty of pleasure to be found here, with a barrage of songs, toe-tapping beats and singalong classics coming together to form a fairly undemanding evening of entertainment.

    The Rat Pack – Live From Las Vegas is currently at Sheffield Theatres until 5th May 2018 before continuing on its national tour.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Fat Friends The Musical – Glasgow

    ★★★☆☆ | Fat Friends The Musical, Glasgow

    *Review taken from the Sheffield production*

    As her wedding day approaches, Kelly buys her dream wedding dress, even though it is two sizes too small for her.

    When Julia Fleshman, the head of a national slimming club chain, comes to town to judge a slimming contest live on TV, Kelly ends up going viral with her body confident comments; and seizing the opportunity for some publicity, Fleshman offers to pay for Kelly’s wedding if she can slim into the dress in time for the big day. But with the wedding only six weeks away, the pressure is on…

    Fat Friends is very much a piece of crowd-pleasing theatre. Pulling together multiple stories of the good folk of Headingly, a town near Leeds, the stage is filled with likeable, if slightly caricatured, characters and is a straightforward evening of undemanding fun.

    The show boasts a good cast, with Jodie Prenger taking the lead as Kelly, and doing so with a cocky northern confidence and a belting singing voice. Sam Bailey (The X-Factor) is great as Kelly’s Mum and Natasha Hamilton (from Atomic Kitten) is the scheming Julia Fleshman. Thrown into the mix is an affable turn from Kevin Kennedy (Coronation Street) and ex-cricketer Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff, who takes to the stage and fares better than expected with a slightly stilted, if not tongue in cheek, portrayal of Kevin, Kelly’s nice but dim fiancé.

    The songs are amiable enough and used to move the story forward, and whilst they were perfectly pleasant to listen to and shoehorned a few laughs into the lyrics, they served their purpose well enough in terms of keeping up the show upbeat and jolly, but were ultimately fairly forgettable. The live orchestra added to the atmosphere within the theatre and the set design was a colourful cartoonish affair which was well lit and effective in its simplicity.

    Written and directed by Kay Mellor, who wrote the original TV series that the show is based on; Fat Friends is a rather loud, boisterous and upbeat show, which really resonates with its target audience. It’s a rather clichéd musical by numbers, with a heavy-handed script, fairly trite lyrics and a rather unsubtle approach to its humour, but what it lacks in sophistication, it makes up for with likeable characters, a few good belly laughs and buckets-full of near the knuckle, northern charm.

    Fat Friends is at the King’s Theatre Glasgow, Glasgow until the 5th May 2018, book tickets click here

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Sunset Boulevard

    ★★★★☆ | Sunset Boulevard

     

    Sunset Boulevard celebrates the golden age of Hollywood, where fading silent screen icon, Norma Desmond is trying to put herself back into the spotlight, with the assistance of Joe Gillis, a screenwriter who literally crashes into her life and is seduced by the lifestyle she can offer. However, scratching beneath the surface of the glitzy show business veneer exposes a dark tale of unrequited love, obsession, jealousy and controlling and manipulative behaviour, which brings people to the brink of insanity and murder.

    Sunset Boulevard is not necessarily Lloyd-Webbers strongest work, although it does have a score which, at times, is reminiscent of Evita; but it certainly entertains. And whilst, in the words of the musical, Evita may have brought with her “just a touch of star quality”, Ria Jones brings an abundance of dazzling West End class with a powerhouse performance as Norma Desmond, proving that she is every bit the star that her character once was. Danny Mac (Strictly Come Dancing) is also very impressive as Joe Gillis, strutting the stage with a cocksure swagger and holding his own against such a strong leading lady.

    But this production it is not all about the performances. Colin Richmond’s set design is top-notch, with a real attention to detail and some inventive visuals; and the scenes transform smoothly and elegantly from one location to another whilst projected images enhance the multi-layered set. The staging is grandiose and inventive, moving from the large open spaces of the studio backlot to the intimacy of darkened rooms of Desmond’s mansion. The 16 piece orchestra is delightful and the lighting design washes the stage with the orange and gold glamour of Hollywood before fading into the dimly lit locations of the darker corners of the story.

    Sunset Boulevard is a standout touring production which oozes with class, sophistication and quality.

    Sunset Boulevard is playing at Sheffield Theatres until Saturday 28th April 2018, before continuing on its national tour

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Tina, Aldwych Theatre

    ★★★★ | Tina, Aldwych Theatre

    Adrienne Warren is astonishing as Tina Turner in the new musical aptly titled Tina. Now playing at the Aldwych Theatre, Tina charts the ups, and many downs, of Tina’s life. Born as Ann-Mae Bullock, in 1939, we are shown, first hand, how, as a little girl, she was brought up in a violent household where her father hit her mother, causing her mother to move away with her sister (leaving Ann-Mae behind).

    Then we are all aware of Tina’s 16-year violent relationship with Ike Turner, a relationship that she got into when she was very young (16), and which produced two boys. But once this depressing part of the story concludes (depressing because of the emotion and violence) we get to the good stuff;  how Tina reinvented herself ( with the help of manager Roger Davies – played by Ryan O’Donnell) and became a music superstar all on her own, and then had several chart-topping hits in the 1980s and 1990s, raising her level to icon status.

    All of this story is told in the songs of Tina (and Ike) Turner. ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’ is, strangely enough, sung in an airport lounge, while ‘I Can’t Stand the Rain’ is performed with, yes you guessed it, umbrellas, while there are other questionable sequences that don’t quite fit the music. And some of the wigs most of the men wear to reflect the time period look a bit silly and fake at best, plus a couple performers go a bit overboard in their acting in a couple dramatic scenes. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as Ike Turner doesn’t quite nail the role. However, it’s Warren’s show. Every time she opens her mouth and sings it’s electrifying, and without her, the show would not be a hit.

    Warren is just simply amazing, simply the best, and at the end, the audience is treated to a few more songs, and Warren truly does deserve the standing ovations she receives night after night after night. Warren is a star in her own right.

    140,000 new tickets went on sale Wednesday 18 April 2018 and is now booking to 16 February 2019.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Fat Friends The Musical – Edinburgh

    ★★★☆☆ | Fat Friends The Musical, Edinburgh Playhouse

    *Review taken from the Sheffield production*

    As her wedding day approaches, Kelly buys her dream wedding dress, even though it is two sizes too small for her.

    When Julia Fleshman, the head of a national slimming club chain, comes to town to judge a slimming contest live on TV, Kelly ends up going viral with her body confident comments; and seizing the opportunity for some publicity, Fleshman offers to pay for Kelly’s wedding if she can slim into the dress in time for the big day. But with the wedding only six weeks away, the pressure is on…

    Fat Friends is very much a piece of crowd-pleasing theatre. Pulling together multiple stories of the good folk of Headingly, a town near Leeds, the stage is filled with likeable, if slightly caricatured, characters and is a straightforward evening of undemanding fun.

    The show boasts a good cast, with Jodie Prenger taking the lead as Kelly, and doing so with a cocky northern confidence and a belting singing voice. Sam Bailey (The X-Factor) is great as Kelly’s Mum and Natasha Hamilton (from Atomic Kitten) is the scheming Julia Fleshman. Thrown into the mix is an affable turn from Kevin Kennedy (Coronation Street) and ex-cricketer Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff, who takes to the stage and fares better than expected with a slightly stilted, if not tongue in cheek, portrayal of Kevin, Kelly’s nice but dim fiancé.

    The songs are amiable enough and used to move the story forward, and whilst they were perfectly pleasant to listen to and shoehorned a few laughs into the lyrics, they served their purpose well enough in terms of keeping up the show upbeat and jolly, but were ultimately fairly forgettable. The live orchestra added to the atmosphere within the theatre and the set design was a colourful cartoonish affair which was well lit and effective in its simplicity.

    Written and directed by Kay Mellor, who wrote the original TV series that the show is based on; Fat Friends is a rather loud, boisterous and upbeat show, which really resonates with its target audience. It’s a rather clichéd musical by numbers, with a heavy-handed script, fairly trite lyrics and a rather unsubtle approach to its humour, but what it lacks in sophistication, it makes up for with likeable characters, a few good belly laughs and buckets-full of near the knuckle, northern charm.

    Fat Friends is at the Edinburgh Playhouse, Edinburgh until the 22nd April 2018, book tickets click here