| Little Shop of Horrors: Big Show of Talent |
Aberystwyth Winter Production |
| Little Shop of Horrors , Aberystwyth Arts Centre , November 26, 2007 |
“Little Shop of Horrors” , twenty-five years old this year, is moving towards middle age with a confident popularity. Artists are ever optimists but it is unlikely composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman ever envisaged their variation of Roger Corman's low-budget 1960 comedy-horror would be seen across the continents in Argentina, Australia and South Africa. Like Ian McEwan’s novel of this year “Chesil Beach” it is set in the year of 1962, a key year of supposed innocence before the social, sexual and musical avalanche of the sixties. Harry Durnall’s high-spirited production with Aberystwyth's youth theatre shows why it has travelled far and wide. It is sharp and funny, affectionate but with a necessary touch of asperity. It has a grade-A bad guy to chill in dentist Orin Scrivello, truly nasty in Ben Williams' playing. Its comedy is black but light, it is highly melodic, and it is simply plain likeable. It has a stand-out tune in “Suddenly Seymour.” The lyrics are of a sweetness: “Show me me your face/ Clean as the morning/ I know things were bad/ But now they're okay/ Suddenly Seymour/ Sweet understanding/ Seymour's your friend.” The duet is given its full sweetness of expression by Caroline Peel and Taron Egerton. Caroline Peel has the look of a young Kirsten Dunst, of the “Small Soldiers” period, her voice at times reaching a level of Judy Holliday-ish sublimity. Taron Egerton's Seymour Krelbourn is geeky to his fingertips until he takes his glasses off. Nineteen Ceredigion teenagers fill the stage of Theatr y Gwerin with an astonishing self-confidence, The company has a crew of another twenty-two offstage. The music comes from a tight quartet in silver lame jackets. Jak Poore, after his composer achievement for “Café Cariad” in the summer, is on drums. Director Harry Durnall and lighting designer Paul Matthews give Mushnik’s florist shop the smoky, worn look of an Edward Hopper interior. Directorial flourishes include a Skid Row bum vomiting with a volume to match the miked singers. Leather-jacketed Orin makes his entry- to the relish of the audience- on a motorbike on full rev, at least 850 cc’s worth of silver machine. Greg Cullen, director at National Youth Theatre Wales, wrote of lazy reviewers not picking out individual performances. There is an ebullience of talent in this show. Marcus Dobson is a marvellous mover in his “Mushnik and Son” routine. One of the Skid Row chorettes is ahead by a margin in her crispness of movement. That is Gwyneth Keyworth. A last night audience with a big local young cast is never going to be impartial. The enjoyment from the start was noisy, the final applause rapturous but unreservedly warranted. At one point Taron Egerton has to stand and simply wait for some mid-show applause to subside. It is a good test of timing for a young actor. After a recent night of heritage theatre it is good to see the auditorium filled with the under-twenties, It is a good audience to be a part of, for an evening of ambition and accomplishment. |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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