Groan Up’s At The Lowry Review.

Reviewed by Hannah C

Groan Up’s is written by the brilliant minds of Mischief. They are the brains behind The Play That Goes Wrong and Magic That Goes Wrong. Mischief have come a long way in theatre and television, creating a very well deserved name for themselves in the comedy genre. I had high expectations for this play based on previous shows I had seen.

The play took place at the Lyric theatre in The Lowry Centre. As a venue the Lowry is friendly and accommodating. We parked a two minute walk away, the parking fares very reasonable for Manchester costing only £4.40 for the 3 ½ hours we were there. The car park felt very safe and so did the street outside the Lowry which had a few bars and restaurants open so you can head over early for dinner or grab a drink afterwards. The setting is beautiful against the quays with the lights from the buildings reflecting on the water.
I decided to take my twelve year old daughter who used to love joining me at the theatre pre pandemic. I felt that after visiting the Lowry recently to watch another play by Mischief, that I was happy and comfortable to bring her as they had made me feel so settled on my first trip back. We arrived a little late due to traffic, only fifteen minutes before the show was due to begin so I was worried about queues or not being able to get to our seats in time. There were no queues at all! The gentleman who showed us in did a quick bag check and directed us to the stairs behind him where two more friendly members of staff lead us to the Circle after checking our tickets. I didn’t once feel rushed despite being late arriving and the staff were more than willing to help, genuine smiles beneath their masks! I feel this all adds to the atmosphere and made for a fab return to theatres for my daughter. She had a great time. The only hiccup (which really only lasted a minute) was that one of the seats we had been allocated was broken and there was actually no seat in the numbered slot! Luckily though for us, there was no one sitting next to us so we were just able to move down a seat. We were on the front row of the circle. Perfect seats for a full view of the stage and with no one in front of us I didn’t have to worry about my daughter being able to see. When we return, I will try to get those same seats again! Aim for Row A seats 35/36 if you can!
It isn’t a traditional, old fashioned theatre. More modern and spacious, no boxes but plenty of room in seats and between rows. Still it had that theatre vibe!

This play certainly is on the more mature side, focusing not only on the comedy, and there are plenty of laughs and very relatable cringy moments, but also on more grown up concepts. These concepts seem to unfold quite silently as they play moves on, coming to a head in the final scenes. Being a grown up myself it is quite easy to guess who each character will become once in their thirties based on experience but my 12 year old couldn’t guess at all. It would be interesting to watch the play as a younger person as I imagine they’d take home a completely different message to the one I took with me. A few of the jokes went above my daughters head and there were a few sexual references some might not be comfortable with their twelve year olds hearing but nothing worse than what would be heard at school or on TV and was all done in a comedic way. I did see younger children in the audience but on this occasion completely agree with the 12+ age recommendation based on those references.

For me this one was a bit of a mixed bag on the night, many well received funny moments and some deep emotional outbursts. It follows the lives of five friends over three key periods of their lives. From just these three glimpses we can build a picture of their personalities, home lives and get an idea of their character. Although I felt I’d have liked to see a little more of their varied personalities, but that would have meant making the play longer. The reason I said mixed bag was because at times I was wondering where are they going with this, or thinking that’s a little predictable, but stick with it! The second half makes the play. Even though at the time I was wondering when something was actually going to happen, expecting a big event which didn’t come in the first half, after I had left the venue and had had time to think about the play as a whole it is actually really clever.

I am glad I was able to be in the audience because this play really does make you think about it the whole of the next day! And not just for review writing purposes, I realised I was invested in the characters and was plotting what they could have done or said differently. I can’t imagine anyone coming away without thinking wow at school XYZ affected me in a similar way but it wasn’t so obvious back then, the cast laid it all out on stage and there was no hiding from it. When I asked my daughter what she thought the message behind it was, she thought it was about growing up but also the importance of loving yourself and allowing yourself to be who you are. She also commented on how things that you do on impulse in a school setting, things you don’t think would make a difference in your later life, can actually shape who you become and how you feel about yourself. How your actions can affect the lives of those around you. Things you say even in jest. In part one the characters seemed thrown together with nothing in common, funny, cute but fit a sort of stereotype – child from super rich parents, nerd, goody two shoes, that sort of thing – but then as they progress there is so much more to discover about them.
I was pleased to discover on reading the program there was a very interesting article by social psychologist Frank T McAndrew about relationships at school. I liked this addition amongst the adverts and photographs accompanying the play. It made the whole thing seem very well thought out.

I loved the mix of popular 90s music as we waited before the show and in the interval. It really helped to keep the atmosphere. The audience were singing away and were very responsive to the cast, clapping and laughing. This is the kind of audience I love to be a part of.

One of the *twists* in the second half of the play was hinted at in the first, I picked up on it but my daughter didn’t. It was very emotional and a little hard to watch, not because it was bad but because it was so heartfelt and passionate a speech from Daniel Abbott about a very real issue he was going through. You just wanted to rush up on stage and tell him how awesome he was and that *normal* really means different things to different people. It seemed strange and out of place because of the scene it happened in, yet at the same time mirrored the way that sometimes these things just come out. The life he’d lived up to that point made everything fall into place and it was so painfully real that the first part of the play all of a sudden didn’t seem as forced. It came together. Saying that though I did feel we needed an extra part, some form of closure to see what happened afterwards. Did they all get their happily ever afters of did they continue to plod on. It is left for the audience to decide and I really wished I’d been able to stay for the Q&A after the show to ask the cast specifically what happened to them all!
I couldn’t really choose a favourite cast member, they were all really fantastic. Great voice projection, their characters showing through and the on stage chemistry was there. They all worked really well together. I loved the addition of two extra characters in part two, Chemise played by Jamie Birkett had me in stitches! Also Paul, played by Killian Macardle who my daughter loved because he reminded her of her drama teacher. Her favourite over all was Katie played by Lauren Samuels, she said she could relate to her. Again I wish I could see the play through younger eyes.

To summarize, I think it was so good because it was so relatable. You either remembered acting like that yourself at school or knew someone who did. There was a whole theme with a hamster which was both funny and frustrating the further through the play it was. A lot of the jokes might not have been funny if just said alone, they needed context and in the case of this play, had to be said by specific members of the cast. Some made hilarious because of the cast member themselves adding in their own voice and personality, for example in the case of Simon played by Matt Cavendish and Chemise. I can’t imagine her scenes being as funny played by another actress.

There was a Q&A session after the show, as I said before I wished I was able to stay but with a long drive home, road closures and having my daughter with me I had to leave. It would have been interesting to see what they had to say.
I was delighted to see that many upcoming shows in the program were offered for different groups of people, captions on screens, some shows being signed and reduced noise and light productions! Well done Lowry! I wish more theatres would follow suit.

Upon leaving the theatre it was quick and easy! Straight out receiving thank you’s and farewells from the staff and outside was very well lit. It was really easy to leave the car park and get back onto the main roads too which is a bonus!

Rating: 4/5 stars. If you had asked me during the play I’d have said 3/5 however after having time to think on it, it has more depth than I had originally thought.

Tickets cost from £19 (plus £2 transaction fee).
Groan Ups is playing at The Lowry, Salford from Monday 23rd August- Saturday 28th August. For more information or to book tickets visit https://thelowry.com/whats-on/groan-ups/.
The Lowry recommends 8+ however I’d be more inclined to go with the 12+ rating. You can also call the box office on 0343 208 6000.

The Lowry, The Quays, Salford M50 3AZ