Return to the Forbidden Planet – Upstairs at the Gatehouse

Ellie Ann Lowe, Simon Oskarsson and Alex Fobbester in Return to the Forbidden Planet at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, London. Picture: Darren Bell

Return to the Forbidden Planet continues at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, London until 17 June 2018.

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Since it was first created by writer/director Bob Carlton in the late 1980s, Return to the Forbidden Planet has acquired something approaching cult status. The combination of cheesy 1950s B-movie science fiction, Shakespearean dialogue and rock‘n’roll performed by a group of actor-musicians is a winning combination when done well – and in Upstairs at the Gatehouse’s revival, it is done very well indeed.

The 1956 film Forbidden Planet, about a spaceship and its crew that end up on a desolate planet inhabited by a scientist, his daughter and an array of near-invisible creatures, was itself inspired by The Tempest. Carlton’s conceit takes the film’s general structure, but takes the dialogue back to its Shakespearean roots – not only from The Tempest, but with liberal helpings of Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar and many more.

In this version, the spaceship Albatross is helmed by Alex Fobbester’s Captain Tempest, a pipe-smoking English cove, who leads a crew of rock‘n’roll loving musicians. The traverse staging and a slew of wireless technologies allow musicians and instruments to be more highly mobile than one might expect, musical director Rhiannon Hopkins often playing keyboards on the move.

As the Albatross lands on the planet D’Illyria and the crew encounters Chris Killik’s Doctor Prospero, his daughter Miranda (Stephanie Hockley) and a roller-skating, body popping robot Ariel, a love triangle begins to emerge between Tempest, Miranda and the ship’s cook, Cookie.

And while the romance between captain and scientist’s daughter never quite convinces, Edward Hole’s performance as the lovelorn Cookie sells the whole concept. Most notable are his barnstorming solo renditions of ‘She’s Not There’ and ‘Only the Lonely’, which deservedly bring the house down.

But it is Simon Oskarsson’s Ariel who comes to draw the eye. Helped by an expertly applied make-up job, the robotic roller skater can’t help but gain attention, and thankfully there is a skilful performance at work as well. Much the same can be said for the rest of the cast, too, whose renditions of classic numbers including ‘A Teenager in Love’, ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’ and ‘Monster Mash’ cannot help but bring a smile to one’s face.

With Grant Murphy’s effervescent choreography and a set design which houses more than one surprise, Upstairs at the Gatehouse revitalises a musical that, when more traditionally presented, could have shown its age.

Instead, Return to the Forbidden Planet becomes one of the most enjoyable nights out to be had on the London fringe this year. One feels that Bob Carlton, who passed away in January this year, has been justly commemorated here.

Scott Matthewman