Faking Bad  – Turbine Theatre

Picture: Danny Kaan

Faking Bad continues at the Turbine Theatre, London until 28 October 2023.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Thoroughly entertaining, albeit quite ragged around the edges, this goofy, likeable spoof of the global hit Breaking Bad is a few hours very well spent – whether you were an avid watcher or just dipped in now and again to the original, much-acclaimed TV series which completed its final and fifth season about a decade ago. Dubbed The Unauthorised Parody Methsical, written by Rob Gathercole and directed by Andrew Beckett, according to the production team: ‘Faking Bad is (predicted) to be one of the most stupid and best pieces of musical theatre to ever grace a stage.’ Any team attempting to creatively condense, in musical format, 62 hours of television into under 90 minutes, certainly qualifies as slightly deranged, but all power to their collective elbows for trying. Whether a Breaking Bad virgin or total anorak, there’s something here for everyone, not least comical references aplenty to the original, gallows humour giggles and easily enough fun musical moments to keep you smiling throughout.

Any actor brave enough to stand naked on stage and strum an acoustic guitar with probably just a plectrum to cover his privates has my total admiration and Richard Costello, as Walter White, chemistry teacher and cancer sufferer turned crystal meth manufacturer and drug baron, is outstanding throughout. It’s his total confidence on which the production hangs and which the rest of the excellent cast feeds off with rich rewards. Singing-wise, Costello may be no Elvis, but his multi-faceted, emotive and enigmatic performance is the glue which holds the whole manic affair together. At times, when the scenery wobbles and a swift costume change proves to be anything but, this really does need holding together, but in the true spirit of the show, the cast (and audience) laughs it off and the entertainment value ironically moves up a notch.

Talking manic, there surely cannot have been many better convincingly unhinged performances in a Fringe musical than those from Natalie Winsor, in various guises, each one increasingly unsettling and darkly comical as the other. When in super scary, totally focused mode, you can’t take your eyes off her. You wouldn’t want to let her catch you staring though!

For all the comedy, there’s a dark side – we are talking Class A drugs, their misuse, and gang killings after all, so it’s no surprise the language is colourful. At times, this is more F*cking Bad than Faking Bad but out of that comes one of its best musical moments when Gretchen (Nikki Biddington) and Walter lock horns to sing ‘Sorry Gretchen’. It’s an expletive-strewn comedy music gem and crystalises the admirably anarchic spirit of this production perfectly. As does ‘Jesse’s Rap’, performed by the hoodie-wearing hoodlum played faultlessly by Biddington, and featuring a ludicrous flute interlude on a comedy-sized syringe. The final ingredient which ensures the cast’s chemistry is the right formula is the performance of creator Gathercole. In various madcap guises, none better than as a member of the tough-talking, tough-singing Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), his is a marvellous, maverick performance.

This does start to feel too long and a bit repetitive towards the end but to coin a phrase, never enough to really needle you and come the final number the cast’s enthusiasm and undoubted talent prove highly addictive. Almost a masterclass then in meth-od acting and singing with more than a touch of the barking mad.

Derek Smith