Unfortunate, directed by Robyn Grant, with music by Tim Gilvin, tells the story of the Little Mermaid from Ursula’s perspective. This is The Little Mermaid for adults!
The story follows Ursula from when she was a little girl (in puppet form) and met Triton at school. They grow up together and although they don’t get on at first, end up falling in love. I won’t go into too much detail about the songs, suffice to say there are a few risque comments and plenty of laugh out loud moments!
Soon, we are introduced to Triton’s father – a strange old man who decides to throw a party for his son’s coming of age (as he’s not getting any younger) so that Triton, played by Thomas Lowe, can choose a wife. He chooses – Ursula, but his father turns him against her and she is banished from his world.
Lowe brings the energy of Triton into this role, he’s got a great singing voice and I just loved the little swimming movements he did across the stage, so we didn’t forget they were underwater!
When Triton’s daughters are all grown up, he seeks Ursula’s help with Ariel, played by River Medway. Medway’s comic timing as the clueless Ariel is just brilliant. And she looked incredible!
Ariel gets her wish, grows legs and loses her mermaid tail to be with the equally clueless Eric, played by Jamie Mawson, but in order to gain her legs, she gives up her voice and Eric has no idea she’s the one who saves him when he falls off the boat into the water.
Shawna Hamic plays an excellent Ursula and really owns the stage. Her vocal range is incredible.
Allie Dart plays Sebastian the crab and Colette the chef equally as brilliantly. The cooking scene was really well executed, with Dart managing to switch between characters so quickly, it was great to watch.
The choreography by Melody Sinclair works really well in this show, weaving the ensemble into the story either as themselves or with puppets.
The puppets, costumes and set are all designed by Abby Clarke. The puppets add another dimension to the show and look really effective. The costumes – especially the fish tails – are excellent, and the set worked well as a huge ship bathed in lighting designer Adam King’s purple hue to match Ursula’s tentacles.
The only negative comment I would make about the show is I did feel the numbers were a little drawn out during the evening and some of the sketches could have been shorter, which would have kept the attention of the audience more on the night.
Unfortunate was at Curve 8 and 9 April. The UK Tour is then going to Birmingham Hippodrome 11-13 April. Book tickets here.
★★★
Please be aware the age guidance for this production is: 16+
Show Warnings: Contains strong language, partial nudity, scenes of a sexual nature and flashing lights
