New Wimbledon Theatre – until Saturday 6 November 2021
Reviewed by Liberty Noke
4****
At first glance Heathers seems like an ordinary teen coming of age story about a main character that wants to be popular but this musical has a dark side.
The curtain opens to reveal Veronica Sawyer on her first day of senior year wishing that everyone at school were a little nicer. She falls in with the Heathers- 3 girls all named Heather, the popular yet mean girls at the school and suddenly she is well liked. Despite their new friendship Heather Chandler, the leader of the Heathers, continues to bully Veronica. When a new bad boy JD shows up at the school Veronica falls for him but he quickly reveals his true colours suggesting he and Veronica kill all the mean kids at school. Veronica must choose whether to go along with JD and play God or choose kindness and help the school become a better place.
Maddison Firth gave a stand out performance as Heather Chandler she perfectly played the stereotypical high school mean girl she was nasty and loud while all the time appearing confident, charming and sexy so even though you might want to you couldn’t hate her.
Veronica Sawyer played by Rebecca Wickes was the perfect awkward and anxious high school character. Her awkward laughs and facial expressions really made the audience believe they were watching a real teenager in high school. Wickes’ vocals were incredible and she was a fantastic Veronica from start to finish.
A highlight of the show was the song You’re Welcome sung by Kurt (Liam Doyle) and Ram (Rory Phelan) they played caricatures of high school Jocks and watching Veronica (Rebecca Wickes) outsmart them was a powerful moment.
The entire cast had energy from start to finish – the ensemble in particular. They each had a high school character to play and were all committed to that role. Candy Store is an iconic song from the show one that the audience were eager to hear and the Heathers ( Maddison Firth, Merryl Ansah, and Lizzy Parker) performed it excellently, the choreography was fantastic and performed in perfect synchronisation and the Heathers perfectly showed the power and status they hold at the school.
This show is fantastic, it is easy to see how it has such a following with many of the audience wearing costumes inspired by the characters. With amazing songs, quirky characters and a powerful message about kindness this show is a must see!