Stage@leeds, University of Leeds – until 31 July 2026
Edinburgh Fringe Festival – The Space on the Mile, Space Three from 17 August 2026
Reviewed by Lauren Fordham
5*****
Fantasy World Adventures Mega Park The Musical (thereafter referred to as FWAMP) is an original show created by University of Leeds graduates Abbie Freeston, who is responsible for the book and lyrics, and Matthew Stanley, who wrote the music. It follows the (mis)fortunes of Teddy Mega (played by Owen Wardle), son of deceased FWAMP owner Carlos (Rhys Rogers) who is being pressured by his mother Susan (Charlotte Farthing) to take over as CEO so she can retire. Secretly, however, Teddy harbours a different ambition, to become the park’s mascot, Fwampy the rabbit.
I first reviewed FWAMP when it premiered at stage@leeds a year ago, but it has since been recast, and also shortened and streamlined to fit the requirements of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Wardle’s Teddy has a somewhat grating, misogynistic attitude towards the female characters, particularly his mum, who he resents but also doesn’t want to disappoint, and his long-suffering best-friend-who’s-secretly-in-love-with-him, Pippa (Maeve Gallagher). This characterisation reminds me of modern male protagonists like Evan Hansen from ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ and Jamie New from ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ , and I could definitely see Wardle playing Evan in the future. Charlotte Farthing would make an excellent Margaret New or Heidi Hansen, with her powerful vocals in Mummy Megan’s Lament competently conveying the same mixture of frustration, anxiety and pride that Margaret New does in ‘When I Met Myself Again.
Like ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ and ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ FWAMP is a show that, though it is led by a male protagonist, is propped up by a galaxy of female stars. Gee Case-Watson still commands the stage and frankly, steals the show as Barb, the acerbic Hook-a-Duck seller and often-unsolicited advisor to Teddy, delivering her lines with precise comic timing and in a perfect Yorkshire accent that only makes her funnier. Charlotte Farthing is less likeable as Teddy’s mother, but as I mentioned above her talent is undeniable.
Lilian Sztankov flexes her comedic muscles for a change as beautiful-but-bitchy princess Mabel (as well as playing one of the Designers), and her fellow Royal Castle members’ number about giving each other sexually transmitted infections is definitely memorable and would make anyone visiting Disneyland look at cast members differently.
Eliza Mella plays Charlie, the principal designer of the phallic rollercoaster they are petitioning Teddy to let them make, and she and the other Designers deliver humorous lines with suggestive skill ‘we couldn’t get it up without bringing it down’ and also great physical theatre.
Credit is also due to David Bygraves as Jason, the work experience kid. He plays the awkward teenager well but it’s his Dragon’s den-style monologue with the Designers that he subverts his supposedly supporting role and shows his star quality, as well as humour when the maternal designers say ‘can we keep the little one’ and he smoulders with joy. He also multitasks well since he also plays one of the maintenance men who fashion themselves as James Bond, singing a Full-Monty-esque innuendo-ridden song about fixing things and apparently stripping for guests.
The only dimmer switch on this dazzling show was some of the lighting – the logo only lit up Fantasy Mega Park rather than its full title, and some of the signs were also difficult to read as they were only lit in the background, but I’m sure that’s easily rectified and I was too gripped by the show to care for long. It was a shame to lose some of the interactive pre-show games, too.
All in all though, this is a hilariously funny, fantastic show which thoroughly deserves to be a mega success, both at the Edinburgh Festival and beyond.