Mamma Mia! At Regent Theatre Stoke-On-Trent Review

Reviewed by Catherine Brown

The heart-warming and entertaining musical ‘Mamma Mia!’ is currently at the Regent Theatre, Stoke-0n-Trent as part of a national tour. The energetic show set on a tiny Greek island, previously turned into as a film starring Meryl Streep, uses classic ABBA tracks to tell the tale of a mother and daughter wrestling with their life choices.

Sophie (Jena Pandya) is the young naive girl, soon to be married, who has been brought up by her fiesty mother Donna (Sara Poyzer). Sophie has never known the identity of her father, but finding her Mum’s diary has given her the chance to invite Sam, Harry and Bill – the three possible Dad’s – to her impending wedding. Drama follows as Donna is shocked by their re-appearance on the island and has to confront the decisions she made in the past. Sophie upsets her fiancé Sky by not revealing what she has been planning and a question mark hangs over who will walk her down the aisle.

The show combines energy and exuberance while also focusing on family relationships and the choices we make for love. The stage uses a simple backdrop of Greek buildings which rotate to give a smooth transition from inside to out. The way the ABBA songs such as ‘Knowing me, knowing you’, ‘Voulez-vous’ and ‘’Take a chance on me’ were intertwined with the script worked seamlessly. The choreography by Anthony Van Laast added to the drama and entertainment and all of the vocals were of a high standard while their vibrant costumes gave the show a bright sunshine Mediterranean feel. Many of the songs had the audience singing or clapping along and it was no surprise when they stood and danced along to the final numbers.

My favourite character combination was Donna’s friend Tanya (Helen Anker) and Sky’s cheeky friend Pepper (James Willoughby Moore). Their flirtatious dancing to ‘Does your mother know’ was highly comical and had the audience in stitches. Another bonus was seeing Sophie’s fiancé Sky (Toby Miles) and his stags performing in wetsuits and flippers! All of the casting was well matched to the characters – with the trio of possible dads being particularly charismatic and endearing. There was lots of visual comedy and inuendo particularly from Donna’s lively friends Tanya and Rosie (Nicky Swift). The duet of SOS between Donna and Sam (Richard Standing) showed the battle of emotions that independent women face brilliantly.

The Regent Theatre is at Piccadilly which is in the Hanley area of the city (ST1 1AP) and as always the staff were warm and welcoming. The piano bar is a perfect place to have a pre-show drink, while the main foyer stocks a variety of drinks, snacks and merchandise. There was also the opportunity to order interval snacks using an online app which was very handy.

Rating: I had a fantastic time and would give this show a 5/5 rating.

The show is on from Tuesday 17th May until Saturday 21 May 2022

Performances are on Tuesday – Saturday evenings at 7:30pm and also Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday matinees at 2:30pm

Tickets available from £13 at www.atgtickets.com/shows/mamma-mia/regent-theatre