Theatre@41, York – until 4 July 2026
Reviewed by Lauren Fordham
5*****
‘25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ is an American musical conceived by Rebecca Feldman, with music and lyrics by William Finn.
Directed at theatre@41 by Neil Wood and performed by York Light Opera Company, it follows six teens and as they vie for the ultimate spelling championship. They spell their way through a series of complex (and occasionally made-up) words whilst discussing their home lives, simultaneously hoping never to hear the ‘ding’ of the adjudicators’ bell that indicates that they made an error and will be disqualified.
The set contains as a backdrop a huge American flag, and the characters sit on raised benches before being called up to the podium to spell their words. There is also a stall set out by the Bee’s sponsors, Putnam County Optometrists with accompanying glasses illustration – because in popular cuture bookworms/nerds often need vision correction. While that stereotype could have grated on another critic, it amused this reviewer – if the shoe fits, as the saying goes, she will good-naturedly wear it.
One of the adjudicators of the Bee, Rona Lisa Perretti, is a former Putnam County Spelling Bee victor herself, and Katie Brier, who plays her, perfectly captures her nostalgia as she reflects on her own performance as a ‘marvellous memory,’ but also her slightly subversive side, ‘when the favourite loses, that’s my favourite moment of the Bee.’
Neil Foster, who plays her fellow judge, Vice Principal Douglas Panch, gives a believable comic performance when he melts down at a contestant calling him Principal ‘they won’t let me be principal!’
Daniel Wood evokes sympathy as the melodramatic and self-deprecating Leaf Coneybear. Coneybear placed third in his district and only got to the final due to the winner and attending a bat mitzvah and the runner-up attending it. As a result, his siblings bully him into believing that, as he sings, ‘I’m Not That Smart’. Wood excels at evoking Coneybear’s clumsiness, both visually through his wearing a helmet and when he randomly yet slickly falls off his chair.
Also physically, Wood strongly resembles the actor Tyger Drew-Honey from the television series ‘Outnumbered’, and with his comic aptitude this reviewer believes he could be equally successful professionally.
Stephen Wright, who plays William Barfee evokes Hyacinth Bucket when he is introduced by Perretti and immediately corrects her pronunciation to make his surname more pretentious, ‘it’s Barfée.’ His strengths range from linguistics to being lithe and fleet of foot as he spells out each word on the floor with his shoe as he articulates it, particularly in the number ‘My Magic Foot.’ This reviewer thinks a role in \ (perhaps as a slim Mr Braithwaite) is definitely within his purview, should he desire it.
Rosa Burns plays the highly successful but also highly pressured and neurotic Marcy Park. ‘[her paperwork] says I speak 6 languages but does it also say I only sleep 3 hours a night and I hide in the medicine cabinet and I’m not allowed to cry?’ She has great comic range and rapport with James Dickinson, who plays Jesus, who tells her it’s ok to fail the contest, which she then throws with glee, ‘I don’t have to win!’
It was lovely for this reviewer to see Lim act for the first time, particularly in a comic role as she first came across him in May directing Inspired By Theatre’s ‘Spring Awakening,’ a show which, while equally engrossing, is far from light-hearted.
Lim is impressively versatile in his role of ‘Comfort Counsellor’ Mitch Mahoney going from gritty, slightly threatening ex-con who’s only doing it for his community service, ‘I just want to beat them up a little, so they understand that pain has degrees, and this is nothing, you little freaks’ to moral supporter,handing out juice boxes and hugs.‘Go with dignity, you’re a real smart dude, spell with patience and care, that, dude, is my prayer.’
Lottie Farmer plays Logainne Schwartzandgrubenniere. Like Parks, her character is highly-strung and highly-pressured, in her case to not let down her dads (played by Wood and Lim, to excellent effect, I could instantly see them smashing the Heathers the musical anthem, My Dead Gay Son, and Farmer herself perhaps as Martha.)
Hannah Shaw, who plays Olive Ostrovsky, deserves credit before she even opens her mouth, simply for surviving the show while wearing a pink, fluffy, and very thick-looking jumper in 30 degree heat in a theatre with no air conditioning! I hope Carly Price from Wardrobe had plenty of fans and ice for her backstage. When Shaw does sing, however, she endears herself entirely to the audience as she relates how the words in her beloved dictionary have become forever friends compared to the (few) real ones she may have in school, a sentiment this bookish reviewer can well remember sharing.
But the stand-up performance of the night (if you’ll excuse the pun) came from James Dickinson who plays Chip Tolentino. Tolentino’s ‘Unfortunate Erection’ didn’t need to be spelled out at all and evicted him from the Bee. His bemoaning of it (forgive the pun again!) while throwing candy at the audience had us all in stitches. Magic Mike The Musical surely awaits his audition.
The only error the show made, in my opinion was having too few of the cast wear their glasses in the show, especially since the Bee is sponsored by Putnam Optometrists! There may have been practical reasons for these choices such as a preference for contact lenses onstage, perhaps due to lighting effects but should she have directed, this bespectacled reviewer would have said nerds/glasses-wearers unite and be proud!
Geeks and freaks and those who love us, and American cultural traditions, I cannot spell it out more clearly if I was writing it in flames across the sky, this show is F A B U L O U S. Get your head out of your latest book and GO SEE IT NOW!