Local Hero – Minerva Theatre, Chichester

Gabriel Ebert in Local Hero at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester. Picture: Manuel Harlen

Local Hero continues at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre until 19 November 2022.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

There’s a seamless quality about this new musical (book by David Greig, music and lyrics by Mark Knopfler). Most of the music is, for the most part, grafted in rather than bolted on.

The excellent seven-piece band, led by Richard John, is seated on a raised stage right platform on which actors sometimes appear briefly too. Songs often start as speech – especially from Hilton McRae, a wise beachcomber who gives a strong performance but evidently isn’t a singer.

Violinist Clodagh Kennedy plays a lot of very evocative, folksy music beautifully and it’s a treat to see her and accordionist Ian Watson centre stage at the end of Act I.

This show, based on Bill Forsyth’s 1983 film, takes us to North West Scotland during the oil boom. An American company, represented by Mac (Gabriel Ebert) wants to buy and raze the whole village in order to build a refinery.

The well defined locals – very pleasing ensemble work – are divided between desperately wanting to become “filthy dirty rich” (good dance rhythm) and concern for the beautiful environment which has been home to their families for hundreds of years.

Line such as “Places change. It’s people you need to hold on to” and “You can’t eat scenery” pepper the dialogue. There’s also a subplot about searching for a comet in “the best skies in the world” and it is that which eventually saves the day – sort of.

The show makes outstandingly imaginative use of the theatre-in-the-round setting of the Minerva Theatre. Frankie Bradshaw’s set combined with Ash J Woodward’s video designs do a first rate, totally convincing job.

The back wall is lined with a huge white concave screen arching towards the audience. On it we get Shetland’s glorious skies, the aurora borealis, stars and more. Meanwhile some of the rostra are removed, not far into the piece, to reveal a sandy beach at the front. It’s both ingenious and evocative.

At other times, in contrast, we see flown down strip lights and wheeled on desks with lots of phones for office scenes in America and a homely bar which is trundled on and off for pub scenes back in Scotland.

Occasionally we get vibrant ensemble numbers such as ‘That’d Do Me’ and when Ebert gets going he has a fine light tenor voice. Lillie Flynn, as Stella, sings with rich clarity too.

There’s a great deal of rather attractive warmth in this show. We know Mac isn’t really going to shaft this cheerful community when he turns up nursing an injured rabbit.

It’s a bit obvious to end Act I with an energetic ceilidh and then start Act II with a hangover scene but it’s a minor gripe.

Susan Elkin