[Title Of Show] at Southwark Playhouse London Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Beth Cowan
[Title of Show] is a hilarious whirlwind of a musical, paying homage to musicals before it, and sending hope to musicals to come. Four actors come together, playing four actors, playing themselves… I know it all sounds very confusing, but the layers upon layers is what makes this such a fun 90 minutes!
The main plot is four characters trying to create a show to submit for a theatre festival, but when the writer and composer find themselves coming up short on a storyline, they realise they could quite literally just write everything they were currently saying out loud! This spirals into a whacky musical where each character plays themselves and we see their submission being written, developed and performed live on stage. The chemistry between the four (real life) actors taking on this show is fantastic, they truly look like they are having a wonderful time and this reflects in the way they bounce off of each other’s lines and energy. The smooth buttery vocals of Jacob Fowler, playing our writer ‘Hunter’, lent themselves to his witty and charming character. It was a joy to listen to each intricate harmony the group showcased and pleasant to see each actor get their chance to shine with some powerhouse vocals.
As for the script itself, there were awesome references and homages to Broadway culture, icons and moments… every detail was catered to its audience, with some references being more hidden, for those deep within Broadway lore. I did however find the overall storyline got a bit messy, some could argue this is a choice to highlight the journey of seeing it written in “real time” but there were a couple of numbers I felt were irrelevant to the plot. For example “what kind of girl is she?” felt very jarring as a number which explores the women’s relationship in the show and the tension/rivalry they felt towards each other. This didn’t have any sort of lead up before this number so it sort of came out of nowhere. There was nothing till this point to suggest these two characters didn’t get along. There were a few cases of this where I didn’t understand why they were all of a sudden dedicating a number or scene to a subplot that had never before been mentioned or explored. I didn’t hate it, as it still made for some entertaining numbers and funny moments, it sort of felt like someone in the creative process just didn’t want to cut these numbers out… which emanates the story quite well I suppose.
This is definitely a fun and fast paced show, especially if you are a fan of musical theatre and its rich history- or if you’ve ever tried collaborating on a project with friends… you’ll definitely relate this story! It’s raunchy and dirty but it trickles in moments of genuine human emotion and the insecurities that will always go hand in hand with vulnerability.
[Title of show] is playing at the Southwark Playhouse BOROUGH until the 30th November. There is no interval and no re admittance, so make sure you have a wee first!
Rating: 4/5
£26 Standard / £21 Concessions
Southwark Playhouse 14th-30th November
https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/title-of-show/
Southwark Playhouse Borough
77-85 Newington Causeway
London SE1 6BD
Closest Tube Station:
Elephant & Castle (Northern Line & Bakerloo Line)
Take the London Southbank University exit.