The cast of Molly Wobbly at The Phoenix Artist Club, London. Picture: Jamie Scott-Smith
Molly Wobbly continues at The Phoenix Artist Club, London until March 19.
Last year, Paul Boyd’s raucously crude comedy musical Molly Wobbly’s Tit Factory hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, when problems with the show’s financial backers caused the Hackney Empire’s planned production to close before it had even had a chance to open. As a result, this new production – a staged concert version in the back room of The Phoenix Artist Club, its title now similarly scaled down – will be many Londoners’ first opportunity to witness one of the strangest fantasy comedies going.
In many ways, the Empire’s loss is the show’s gain. The enforced intimacy of the cabaret-style atmosphere emphasises Boyd’s comedic songwriting in ways that one can imagine would be lost on a full-sized stage. And for much of Act I, the story set-up – three couples running neighbouring shops on Mammary Lane in the struggling town of Little Happening – seems little more than an excuse to string together a succession of witty, if adolescently filthy, numbers.
The overarching story, of a magical fantasy figure (the gloriously contorted Russell Morton) who enchants the local residents to see their own beauty to the initial consternation of their spouses, does provide ample opportunity for a spirited cast to demonstrate their vocal and comedic abilities. The bawdiness comes thick and fast, with entendres having barely enough time to become single, let alone double. This is definitely not a show for children, while certainly appealing to the big kids in all of us.
There is very much an emphasis on the women in the cast in Act I, as each is transported into an idealised version of their back story. From Leanne Jones’ haberdasher regretting her unfulfilled dreams to be a fashion designer, to Ruth’s (Kate England) years at Little Happening Comprehensive becoming a twisted parody of the typical American high school musical, the initial impression is of a show celebrating women, with the weak husbands providing comedic support.
But not only is that comedy element high – Conleth Kane’s dance-loving hairdresser Jake in particular – the men do get their own chance to shine. The strongest male performance comes not from the husbands, though, but from Jordan Lee Davies who, after a succession of brief cameos, blossoms as guardian angel-cum-transvestite Kitten. His paean to the frustrations of gay dating in ‘One Night Stand’ sums up everything about Molly Wobbly, in one larger than life song: incredibly crude, highly funny, and works best in a cabaret setting with a performer who knows no shame.
As a musical which garnered rave reviews during a run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, it feels that staging Molly Wobbly as a boutique cabaret performance at the Phoenix is bringing that sort of sensibility to a London audience. There aren’t many shows for which such an approach would work, but for this raucous farce it’s the best possible staging.
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