British Youth Music Theatre – The Glamification of Loki

Picture: Leanne Dixon

The Glamification of Loki was reviewed at Southwark Playhouse Elephant, London.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

What a relief, for a show based around ancient mythology to move away from the Greek canon. From Hadestown to The Lightning Thief, The Frogs and Hercules, it has felt as if a musical wasn’t a mystical musical unless it was based on some variation of an Olympian myth.

How great, then, for Eden Tredwell’s The Glamification of Loki. As the name suggests, it is rather more interested in Norse mythology. The most recent winner of British Youth Music Theatre’s New Music Theatre Award, Tredwell’s story revolves around brothers Loki and Thor, who are centuries into their eternal feast in Valhalla when they are shocked to discover that they are starting to age. Minor goddess Iodunn is the keeper of the gods’ magic apples that grant eternal youth – but she has refused to give any to the brothers, after Loki insulted the epic verse of her husband, the god of poetry. Iodunn gets so fed up with Loki’s insults that she runs away to Midgard, our mortal world, and the trickster God follows to try and find her.

What he finds is a cosmetics company calling itself The Tree of Life whose new product, Yggdrasil, seems to bear remarkably similar properties to Iodunn’s apples. He becomes convinced that the company’s CEO is Iodunn in disguise, and has actually forgotten that she is a Norse goddess. Naturally, chaos ensues.

For many people, their most recent ideas of the Norse myths will have been the variations that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created for Marvel in the 1960s, and which have transferred to the big screen with Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston as Thor and Loki. Tredwell’s musical, receiving its premiere with this 30-strong BYMT cast, takes a very different approach to the MCU’s, even though Millie Whale’s Thor brandishes a version of the magical hammer, Mjölnir, that bears a suspicious similarity to a bit of Marvel merch.

Patrick Gill’s Loki is a Celtic charmer, in full command of the space as he attempts to infiltrate the cosmetics company workspace. There are elements of Tredwell’s book that don’t quite land, partly because the need to accommodate so many young people on stage at once results in the occasional line being drowned out by frenetic activity. But there are enough weird and wonderful characters with their own personalities to ensure that most of the jokes – and the occasional magic trick – work well.

Musically and comedically, Tredwell’s score leans into the style of screwball humour that fuels classic musicals from Damn Yankees to How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. There are also musical and choreographic nods to other shows, as musical director and orchestrator Lavie Rabinovitz and choreographer Steven Dean Moore pay homage to shows from Fiddler on the Roof to Sweet Charity.

But this is no scrapbook of musical delights. The Glamification of Loki may tip its hat to classic musical comedies, but it is determined to be its own thing. The hit rate of Tredwell’s songs is remarkably high, from peppy ensemble numbers to heartfelt ballads. And while its dissection of the beauty industry may not be especially groundbreaking, it provides a spine around which a stronger, West End-worthy musical may one day develop.

Until then, it’s a great vehicle for a large, young ensemble, providing plenty of showcase opportunities for its leads. Daisy Bullock’s cosmetics CEO demonstrates a vocal belt and a stage presence that outshines the occasionally hackneyed dialogue she must deal with. Arthur Owen and Layla Armstrong make an impact as Odin’s ridiculously silly crows Huginn and Muninn, and Molly Stainthorpe shines in a big dance number as shapeshifter Loki turns into a woman for nefarious plot purposes. But it’s Gill’s Loki that sticks in the memory: there is the feeling that he, and several other members of this enthusiastic cast, may have a future in this industry.

Directed by Grace Taylor, The Glamification of Loki demonstrates what fun one can have when composers step away from an Olympian mythology into a Germanic one. The Norse gods’ true immortality comes from their perpetual place in the storytelling tradition – and this fun musical keeps these stories youthful more effectively than any magic apple ever could.

Scott Matthewman