Zanna, Don’t! – Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham

Zanna, Don’t! was reviewed at the Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham.

Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩

Birmingham’s Old Joint Stock Theatre is continuing to bring lesser-known musical titles to its performance space, following up successful productions of The Mad Ones and First Date with the Off-Broadway cult favourite Zanna, Don’t! The musical was written back in 2003 and has only been seen fleetingly on these shores, and with attitudes around sexuality being more open and inclusive than ever, now seems a prime time for it to be revived.

Set in a parallel world where homosexuality is the norm, we’re taken to Heartsville High, and introduced to magical matchmaker Zanna, who devotes his life to helping others find love while neglecting his own romantic life. Zanna is surrounded by same-sex couples who each have their own problems, but when a closeted heterosexual couple is uncovered, tensions mount and divides arise.

Zanna Don’t!’s candy-coloured world is certainly a fun one, and the musical tries to explore the idea of reversed sexuality norms, but it spends significantly longer on the surface rather than digging particularly deeply. There’s nothing hugely wrong in that, the show is undeniably entertaining, but more critical thinking would question why it doesn’t ask more of the concept, and even the issues it does raise (e.g. “should straights be allowed in the military?”) don’t fully work when you think about them.

It’s doubtful its creators (Tim Acito and Alexander Dinelaris) ever meant for it to be analysed too deeply, and the musical was in fact reworked in 2015 to capture the evolution in sexual identities so perhaps one day we’ll see this version. The narrative feels stretched as the show progresses, losing momentum at times, and the bittersweet ending (albeit accurate) feels like a downer after the fun that comes before it. Still, despite its analytical shortcomings, this original version is still a lot of light-hearted frothy fun. This is helped by the score, an ear-catching mix of upbeat numbers with some wistful ballads thrown in which help to move the plot along nicely.

While the material may not be completely solid, the Old Joint Stock production certainly makes the most of it. Snappily directed by Scott Le Crass, the production has personality by the bucketload and really brings the dynamic energy of the piece off the page and onto the stage. It’s always impressive what the Old Joint Stock team can do with their intimate space, and this remains true again, with impressive lighting and set design (Joanne Marshall) making the show feel much larger than it realistically is, and some energetic choreography (David Winters) which doesn’t hold back despite the audience being incredibly close to the action.

Leading the show as Zanna is Jack Gittins, who joined the show at the eleventh hour and had two days to learn the entirety of the show’s dialogue, songs and choreography. To achieve this with any kind of success is already astonishing, but Gittins delivers the material effortlessly and with a fullness of character that defies the brief rehearsal time. It’s a brilliant performance elevated further by the extraordinary circumstance, and reminds us that theatre performers really are superheroes. Gittins is ably supported by a strong supporting cast, each of whom have their moment to shine. It really is a team effort and they share a remarkable chemistry throughout the show which really sells the relationships.

A solid if superficial look at sexuality, Zanna, Don’t! is more fun if you don’t think about it too deeply, and a star turn from Gittins makes it absolutely worth a watch. The passion that the Old Joint Stock has for shining a light on more obscure musical gems continues to impress, and they have even more up their sleeves for 2025 which we can’t wait to see.

Rob Bartley