Hull New Theatre – until 14th March 2026
Reviewed by Dawn Bennett
5*****
I have had the pleasure of seeing a number of Hessle Theatre Company productions over the years and they are always excellent. I have only seen Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat once and that was a school production and a long time ago, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I did remember some of the songs, Any Dream will Do, One More Angel in Heaven, Close Every Door to name a few, and the music was excellent under Musical Director Rebecca Barques. The show, directed by Martin Beaumont, can only be described as funny, with great music and ever so slightly bonkers! Where else would you have a Pharaoh with more than a hint of Elvis Presley (played brilliantly by Christian Brodie)?
The story is narrated by Elinor Kirby who helps it move along seamlessly; she is a very talented actress and singer. Ben Bailey plays the title role of Joseph and he was able to bring the character alive on stage and his rendition of Any Dream Will Do was particularly good.
Joseph lives with his eleven brothers but as the favourite son of Jacob (Kevin Hickson) his brothers are very jealous of him and have him sold as a slave, telling his father that he was dead. We then follow the story of how Joseph survives being in prison in Egypt and by interpreting Pharaohs dreams he is able to become a powerful leader there. He reconciles with his brothers and then returns to visit his father showing his brothers forgiveness for what they did to him.
All the cast played their parts really well it was great to watch them obviously enjoying themselves a lot!
The young cast were also very good and they all looked engaged on stage and their singing was fabulous.
The set was simple but effective and I particularly liked the video backdrop that was colourful and told the story well.
It would be difficult to name check everyone who were on stage, as there are a lot of them, but each and everyone of them put 100% into this production to help make it into the success it will no doubt be. Hessle Theatre company is an amateur company making very professional shows and long may they do so!