Southampton Mayflower – until 1st April 2023
Reviewed by Lucy Hitchcock
3***
Roddy Doyle’s well loved book has been transformed into a stage production, directed by Andrew Linnie and brings a taste of Dublin to Southampton.
The story starts in Dublin, with Jimmy Rabitte (James Killeen) wanting to start up a band and so enlists a group of misfits-ending up with a superstar band that becomes successful in their own right. This is a great cast, with some incredible vocal talents. The driving force of the show is undoubtedly Ian McIntosh as Deco, the short tempered lead singer of the band who blows a fuse at almost any given moment! His incredibly infectious energy was radiating and he got the audience on their feet, dancing and singing away. As a natural entertainer, it was a real joy to watch him navigate through his character – ultimately creating one of the greatest encores around! We see Deco spat with almost every member of the band and ends up with some members leaving, causing Jimmy to need to rethink his ensemble.
Tim Blazdell’s set design was great, effortlessly transporting you to a backstreet in Dublin and creates some interesting and smooth transitions through the performance. Along with Emma Stillman’s costuming, it was easy to define who was who, with signature pieces for the 3 girls-Imelda, Natalie and Bernie. This helped aid the understanding of the audience and navigation of the story.
With some great music including hits like ‘Proud Mary’, ‘Papa was a Rolling Stone’ and ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours’, make sure that once you have ‘Heard it Through the Grapevine’, you book a ticket to this rousing success.