The Parent Agency at The Storyhouse Chester Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by H Chan

If this show isn’t a huge West End hit over the next couple of years, then I’ll be very, very surprised. The Parent Agency is so much fun! An entertaining and well thought out new musical, based on the best-selling book written by David Baddiel. With music by Dan Gillespie Sells, choreography by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille and direction by Tim Jackson among the amazing creatives, this show has so much potential and I truly hope that it can be enjoyed by as many people as possible. I was in awe at how well everything worked, the costumes, the sets and the incredible cast.

I took my nine year old son with me to see the show, he was glued to the stage, devouring every detail and he was so happy afterwards that he declared he needed to have an all night reading session to finish the book. (We have a few of Baddiel’s, but didn’t have this particular one before the show) so went into the story without knowing the plot. After seeing the show I feel that my older daughters would have also loved it, so I think a return trip needs to be made.

Twelve year old Max Bispham played Barry, the shows protagonist, this evening. He was a natural on the stage, he has such a wonderful voice. His cheeky portrayal of Barry was perfect. With only four days left to his eleventh birthday, Barry creates a list of all the reasons why he dislikes his parents. So when he’s whisked away in the middle of the night to The Parent Agency, of course the mayhem of vetting new parents ensues. Of course the new parents were the complete opposites of all the things he didn’t like about his own. I don’t think there was one moment on stage where we didn’t have a huge smile on our faces, there were a few more moving moments however bringing the whole show to a lovely ending. The plot itself is very easy to follow, and so clever! There are plenty of jokes for all ages. Each set of parents had their own songs, costumes, dances and sets. Over the course of the show, and with the help of Boy, played by Louis Wilkins tonight, Barry learns that perhaps there is one last set of parents who might have been the right ones all along. Louis had us feeling all the emotions with his beautiful singing.

It’s hard to choose a favourite moment or song, as there were so many it’s difficult. There was something magical about each song, but if made to choose I loved The Rader-Wellorfs, the word play was fantastic, and the whole Carry Me Home scene was hilarious. My son loved the song Barry, and the scene That’s How We, Like, Roll. I could name every single person in the show, and reel off several moments from the musical that made them stand out, I felt that there were really no small parts. The ensemble were energetic and very impressive. There were a lot of dances and different parts to play and the way it flowed was also down to their great timing. You could see the amount of effort and work that had gone into every scene. Of course the live band were very deserving of a mention too! As was Elliot Broadfoot who played Peevish. Such a fantastic array of facial expressions and natural stage presence.

Overall, it was an incredible evening. High energy, absolutely hilarious and the attention to detail was amazing – right down to a few little surprises which I won’t ruin, but took the show up a notch. The young cast did put on the best show that they could, and the boys especially blew us all away. There were no scary or depressing moments at all, it was very family friendly. Baddiel’s narrating also amused me.

If you can get to see it now then I highly recommend that you do! Before it tours and hits the West End. We gave this show a very easy five out of five stars (we’d give it ten if we could)

The show runs until March 2nd, and tickets cost from £21.25 for Storyhouse Members and from £23.50 for non-members (plus booking fee) The theatre itself is very accessible and our seats were fantastic. It ran for just over two hours and had a twenty minute interval. We didn’t feel as if there was a bad seat at all, the gradient was just enough so that we had a great view of the stage despite being in the middle. The boys didn’t miss a thing. There is a great bar/café on site for snacks and drinks and if you’re local then I recommend taking advantage of their cinema and library! The Storyhouse is an asset to Chester. What a wonderful place to begin the show run, it felt cosy, personal and magical.

Rating: 5/5

You can find tickets and more information about the show here www.storyhouse.com