Little Shop of Horrors at Octagon Theatre Bolton Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Cath Joyce
Anyone stood outside the Octagon Theatre in Bolton last night around 10pm would be forgiven for thinking that a boy band was performing – such was the applause and cheers the cast received following an absolutely fantastic performance of Little Shop of Horrors.
Based on the 1960’s film and adapted for stage by writer Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken the Little Shop of Horrors is set in a rundown area of Downtown New York called Skid Row. The story is about Seymour Krelborn, a botanist who works in Mr. Mushnik’s Flower Shop. The business is failing but their fortunes change when Seymour discovers an unusual plant following an eclipse of the sun. He struggles to identify the strange plant and decides to name it Audrey II after his colleague Audrey who he has a secret crush on. The venus flytrap style plant is placed in the shop window and before long people start flocking to the shop to see the peculiar plant and business is booming. Seymour becomes an overnight celebrity but there is a price to the fame as he discovers there is more to the plant than meets the eye and he soon discovers it needs a lot more than water to flourish.
All the cast were fantastic but special mentions have to go to Oliver Mawdsley as Seymour and Matthew Ganley as Orin. Oliver was perfectly cast as Seymour, portraying the downtrodden shy character brilliantly and Matthew brought plenty of comedy to the musical with his portrayal of Orin, Audrey’s sadistic bully of a boyfriend. Despite being such a nasty character he had a great onstage presence was so funny to watch. The scene when Seymour was in the dentist’s chair was a real highlight and I’m just glad that my dentist doesn’t wield the drill like he did!!
The set, designed by TK Hay has been constructed over two levels with the shop at the bottom and the live band performing above. Audrey II starts life as a small plant and as she grows a series of puppets portray the carnivorous plant, getting larger as the story unfolds. Clever use of lighting by Lighting Designer Nic Farman adds to the drama of the show and is very effective in the scenes where Audrey II gets fed!
The puppets are manipulated by Matthew Heywood and voiced by Anton Stephans and they were truly brilliant. I couldn’t help but keep looking at the large plant, even when the focus was on other cast members. I did wonder how they would do the scenes where Audrey II ate people but they were tastefully done and the puppetry was excellent.
Directed by Lotte Wakeham this musical is a co-production by the New Wolsey, Bolton Octagon, Theatre By the Lake and Hull Truck and it’s definitely one to go and see this Spring. Whether you’re a die-hard fan of the film or experiencing it for the first time you won’t be disappointed. It’s a great show packed with catchy songs and plenty of laughs and of course a huge man eating plant!
Rating: 5/5
Little shop of Horrors is at Octagon Theatre, Bolton from Wednesday 24th April until Saturday 18th May shows start at 7.30pm with a matinee starting at 2pm on selected dates.
Audio description is available at every show via heads upon request.
https://octagonbolton.co.uk/events/little-shop-of-horrors
Ticket prices start at £15 and are available from https://octagonbolton.co.uk/events/little-shop-of-horrors#dates-and-times or by phoning the theatre on 01204 520661