Alex Green and Louie Westwood in Devilish! at the King’s Head Theatre, London. Picture: Scott Rylander
Devilish! continues at the Landor Theatre, London until 29 May.
Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩
Slow to start with some very wonky singing in the early numbers, this is a show which improves as the evening progresses. Alex Green is an angel. He arrives from heaven and crash lands in a 2016 suburban garden. The story which unfolds is a satire on the media and celebrity exploitation (“What’s the point of beauty if it’s not being photographed?”) with a nod to the time honoured Faust story.
Green, clad in laughable feathery wings, is suitably boyish and beaming as he allows himself to become a celebrity before eventually deciding that he’d rather be human. He sings with impressive range both tonally and dynamically.
Louie Westwood has fun with a couple of contrasting well-sustained stereotypes: a gushing TV presenter with a speech impediment and a has-been Brummie magician. Gareth James, the TV director and villain of the piece, delivers his outrageous politically incorrect one-liners with panache and sings well enough.
The ensemble work is slick and nippily choreographed (by Adam Scown) given the limitations of the small scale Landor playing space. Laura Hyde, strapping and red-headed, pouting, jerking, and singing with great strength, stands out as being an especially fine ensemble member.
BB Cooper’s music (book and lyrics by Chris Burgess) is oddly old-fashioned with lots of melody at the top of the texture and less bass and drums than most modern scores use. Andy Collyer’s orchestrations are colourful with much attractive flute, clarinet and saxophone interjection and embroidery from Andy Stewart.
It’s a show with plenty going for it then (Marc Urquhart directs), but overall it lacks depth. It’s quite witty in places but you leave the theatre wondering whether it was really worth spending two hours on something so lightweight.
Susan Elkin
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