Dean Nolan and Christian Roe in Baddies: The Musical at the Unicorn Theatre, London. Picture: Manuel Harlan
Baddies: The Musical continues at the Unicorn Theatre, London until 24 December.
Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩
Baddies: The Musical is another re-telling of well-known fairy tales in a world where all the different stories take place in the same world. The Big Bad Wolf (Dean Nolan) finds himself locked up with some other ‘Grimm’ cell-mates. The ugly step sisters: Fay (Claire Sundin) and May (Kelly Agbowu), Captain Hook (Miles Yekinni) and Rumpelstiltskin (David McKay) occupy the other beds in the prison cell but no one knows why they have suddenly been arrested. Peter Pan (Christain Roe) and Cinderella (Kathy Rose O’Brien) form a bizarre alliance as the ‘Goodies’ in this play but, as always, you can never judge a book by its cover…
This piece (book and lyrics by Nancy Harris, music and lyrics by Marc Teitler and story by both) manages to be an entertaining children’s show while keeping the adults entertained too. The children seem quite keen to get involved despite the fourth wall holding firm most of the time. They scream at the right points, laugh at the right times and even gasp or react appropriately at the right moments of tension or comedy. So quite a success with the younger audience members.
Act I does tend to drag quite a bit as the characters share their stories via some rather underwhelming songs. There are great comedy moments throughout, with most coming from the wee Scottish Rumpelstiltskin, but overall the first half could be much shorter.
Act II picks up a lot once Cinderella and Peter Pan take centre stage and the show starts to take many unexpected twists and turns with the pace quickening. The suspense and tension is quite captivating for all ages.
Fairy tales are meant to be moral lessons, but it is hard to place the moral in this re-telling. It might be that you need the bad to see the good, it might be don’t judge based on appearances, or it might just be a lesson in good storywriting. In that case, the writers may want to address the loose ends related to the mysterious ‘Snuffalo’ who appears to be quite significant to the story but disappears at the end.
The cast is fantastic and each member plays into their stereotype phenomenally. Roe’s Peter Pan is sensational and his ‘I’m the best at everything’ attitude is so apt for this young man. He plays up his egotistical side – often finding time to scan his phone while the attention is off him and his exit at the end of the show is hilarious. Similarly, McKay’s Rumpelstiltskin – a slightly unusual baddie – is quite entertaining as the underdog of the villain world who happens to have terrifyingly good maths skills.
When seeing a children’s show, I like to see that the writers and actors have acknowledged the adults too and Purni Morell’s staging certainly does a decent job in entertaining everyone. It could be edited – especially for the age group it is aimed at. Overall, though, it’s another pleasant re-telling of fairy tales.
Tal Fox
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