Wilton’s Music Hall, London – until 28th June 2025
Reviewed by Celia Armand Smith
3***
On the stage of Wilton’s Music Hall, there is a desk on which sits a plant pot. Out of that plant pot, a plant appears named Potty. He is rather sweet with button eyes and a squeaky lil American voice. Potty lives in the office of his best friend, the vampirically vibed Dr Acula, at Lil Boo Boo’s General Hospital. Originally a short film, Potty the Plant went on to have two popular runs at the Edinburgh Fringe and will be returning there this summer.
It is billed as a dark comedy musical and it is certainly that. Directors and creators Aeddan Sussex, Baden Burns, and Sarah Burns’ show is perfect Fringe material with chaos, larks, and silly songs aplenty. At one hour long, we follow the antics of the employees of Lil Boo Boo’s General Hospital as they try and figure out why kids are disappearing and they have their suspicions. Dr Acula (Ash K-B) has his sights set on the lovely Miss Lacey (Lucy Appleton) thinking her family sitting on a goldmine, but Potty (voiced and puppeted by Baden Burns) loves her and so teams up with the nurses (Stephanie Cubello, Sam Ridley, Joe Winter) to foil Dr Acula’s plans.
The cast all look as they are having the best time and they have fantastic vocal and acting talents. The stage is buzzing with energy and there are some funny moments. Some of the jokes seem a bit tired, like a nurse being ginger and then it turns out he’s not and everyone is relieved, and there are several pedophile jokes. This show didn’t quite land for me at Wilton’s, perhaps the space was too big to fill with what felt like a student production.
Potty the Plant is brimming with imagination, and it will be good to see what the creators of this show do next. This musical may not be for everyone, but there were some big laughs in the audience, so if you like very silly, campy, botany adjacent musical comedies, then this might just be for you.