Little Shop of Horrors at Derby Theatre Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Louise Edwards
Little Shop of Horrors, a Derby Theatre and Northern Stage Production, is on at Derby Theatre until Saturday 20 June to sold-out audiences. Based on the cult 1986 film by Roger Corman and screenplay by Charles Griffith, this production was directed by Sarah Brigham, the Artistic Director at Derby Theatre.
The musical opens with the Urchins – Crystal played by Shekinah McFarlane, Ronette played by Emmanuella Chede, and Chioma Uma as Chiffon – setting the scene with them doubling as narrators and musicians playing guitar and saxophone and woven into the action. We are transported to Skid Row in Los Angeles, where Mr Mushnik, played by Jon Bonner, runs a failing floristry store that he fears he will have to close due to the gritty area frequented by the homeless and subsequently leading to the lack of customers. Employees, Seymour played by Kristian Cunningham (making his professional debut) and the incredible voice of Amena El-Kindy playing Audrey, are determined that this is not going to happen.
Seymour shows them a plant that he has been cultivating, following a strange experience, and Mushnik’s luck seems to change. Interest in the plant is growing, attracting customers, the press, and fans.
The only downside is that the plant feeds on human blood and Seymour is soon covered in plasters over his fingers from trying to curb its appetite.
Audrey, meanwhile, although she confesses to having a crush on Seymour, thinks that she only deserves bad boys and sticks with Orin the Dentist, played by David Rankine – a pantomime villain crossed with Elvis Presley type character. He is abusive and their domestic abuse storyline dates the production slightly and feels in juxtaposition with the comedy. I guess he is all part of the horror element!
Stage design by Verity Quinn cleverly creates a run down shop transformed into a cosy home for the bright green and pink Audrey II the now blooming plant, growing bigger as the play reaches its final scenes. The lighting by KJ deepens the effects of the plants influence with hot reds edging out into scenes of moral collapse and mortality. Ross Lennon is the puppeteer of Audrey II with Tasha Dowd’s voice bringing a strong divaesque energy.
Projected across the stage are the integrated captioning by Ben Glover, a deaf video designer himself. Derby is home to one of the UK’s latest deaf communities and the production weaves the captions into the fabric without looking like an afterthought to ensure that everyone can enjoy the storytelling.
We loved the performance and it was a refreshing interpretation that runs for around 2 hours with a 20 minute interval. Get tickets whilst you can!
Derby Theatre is located within the Derbion shopping centre and parking is conveniently located within the basement. There are also connections for bus and train.
At the end of the night we did find that the queues to get out of the basement car park were very lengthy meaning it took us over 30 minutes to exit as it is a bit of a bottleneck!
Rating: 4/5
Tickets from £32 can be bought here https://derbytheatre.co.uk/event/little-shop-of-horrors/