47. The Little Shop of Horrors - White Bear Theatre

Ah, this was a much more enjoyable trip to the White Bear Theatre than last time I was there, despite managing to book for a football night again. This time I even managed to get served at the bar (cider – if I’m going to end up the evening being eaten by a shrub, I’d like to know I inflicted some damage to the plant world first). Plus whilst last time I had trouble with the actors being drowned out by the rowdy disco next door, this time the small cast were loud enough for it not to be a problem.


It was also worth the visit as, despite it being a cult classic, I’ve never seen Little Shop of Horrors, not even the film – I had only a vague idea of the plot and had possibly heard a few of the songs around – but that was it. As it is, I’m not sure if this was a great way to be introduced to it or not – the breakneck pace the production moves at occasionally made me feel like I was flying blind and in danger of being lost; but also made the experience really thrilling and didn’t give me pause to question some of the weirder parts of the plot.
It’s certainly ambitious for the fringe, so I didn’t feel stinted in the production values, except possibly from the slightly odd Audrey II seedling (I even overheard the director saying before the show that they’d spent £12,500 on silk flowers – bloody hell).

Particularly impressive was the decision to hire and rehearse two separate casts – not only with alternative Audrey and Seymour’s but with two sets of trios playing Audrey II – one all female and one all male. I caught the female crew and loved them - Olga-Marie Pratt, Laura Mansell and Chloe Akam not only having excellent voices, but also great characterisation, full of languid sensuality, though some of the choreography was a little odd. I would be curious to see their male counterparts, though time and money makes it unlikely. I also thought they used the rest of the cast extremely well, making the most of the four team ensemble that created a wide variety of roles. The other leads were also all very strong, with Ceris Hines as a delightful Audrey being the stand out. Her version of Somewhere That’s Green was definitely a highlight of the show for me.

They also had added some nice touches; I particularly loved the lightly irreverent atmosphere created at the start with the sound of sirens and the musical director / pianist stumbling in drunkenly. It had a real sense of fun, which the cast kept up throughout making it equally fun to watch. Though I felt that they could have made more use of the proximity of the audience to break down barriers and create intimacy, as although Audrey II came close to the audience, I never really felt menaced - but I guess that wouldn’t have been to everybody’s taste. All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, even if it didn’t really ever blow me away.