Sam Retford and Lloyd Daniels in Closets at the Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
Closets at the Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
Opening with a pre-show warning for ‘extreme campness’, time travelling new musical Closets is the perfect warm-up for the upcoming Manchester Pride; a fun, feel-good show celebrating love in all forms that also manages to be far more poignant and touching than its somewhat ostentatious premise suggests.
It’s 1988 and 16-year-old Henry is stunned when a 2018 Tom Daley calendar flies out of his bedroom closet. When his mother Susan catches him trying out her lipstick and bra and reacts with disgust, Henry retreats back to his closet and finds himself transported three decades into the future. In 2018 he meets Ben who is also struggling with his sexuality in a different way.
The two teenagers travel back to 1969 and New York’s Stonewall Inn, get caught up in the riots and meet people from their past and their future, allowing them both to finally accept who they are.
Writers Lloyd Eyre-Morgan and Neil Ely adapt Eyre-Morgan’s own prizewinning short film and the concept is undoubtedly well-suited to the musical genre. Composer Ashley MA Walsh’s score is a catchy combination of Pet Shop Boys-style synth pop songs and heartfelt ballads, performed with conviction and power. Some of the lyrics are occasionally a little bland and predictable, but this is well hidden by a superb band and eye-catching choreography from Hope Mill co-founder William Whelton.
Sam Retford is an extremely charismatic lead and gives a multi-layered performance, at times oozing confidence but also showing Henry’s anxiety and vulnerability. He is matched well by Lloyd Daniels as Ben, whose warm voice suits the style of the music.
As Henry’s apparently homophobic mother Susan, Hayley Tamaddon is vocally strong throughout and her ‘The Girl With All The Dreams’ is a standout. It’s a role that could so easily have just become the stereotypical ‘villain’ of the piece but Tamaddon shows the complexities of the character and reasons behind her reaction.
Kim Tatum as New York mother figure Florrie leads the almost anthemic ‘Boys, Toys, Misfits and Lovers’ with verve and Sophie Ellicott brings the house down with ‘Protection’, her witty ode to practising safe sex.
The book has plenty of one-liners and comedic moments but also treats the central themes with sensitivity. Although lots has thankfully changed for the better since the Stonewall Riots, Closets shows that there is still some way to go, with homophobia still present and the rise of social media contributing to a new kind of bullying.
In its whistle stop tour through the last 50 years, some scenes do feel rushed and a brief meeting between Henry and his older self could be fleshed out further. It is best not to give too much thought to the mechanics of the time travel, which is never explained and simply accepted for what it is.
Overall Closets is an enjoyable new musical, with an infectious charm that sweeps the audience along and by the joyful finale, sweeps everyone to their feet.
May Mellstrom
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