Ambassadors Theatre – Booking to 12 October 2019
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
4****
Sue Townsend’s spotty hero isn’t the most obvious musical star, but Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary’s bonkers musical brings the chaotic innocence of 1980s teenagers to life with a joyfully irresistible energy.
A year in Adrian’s life – where his mother’s affair with sleezy Mr Lucas and his dad’s rebound dalliance with Dirty Doreen play out alongside Adrian’s awkward attempts to romance Pandora – is portrayed at breakneck speed by a cast of 10. The four children – Adrian, his best friend/romantic rival Nigel, Pandora and bully boy Barry are shared between 16 talented young actors. I was lucky enough to see Rebecca Nardin as Pandora, Jeremiah Waysome as Nigel, Jack Gale as Barry and Rufus Kampa as Adrian. They just blew me away – Rufus Kampa is a future superstar, commanding the stage even as he hunches over his diary spouting Adrian’s execrable poetry. The adult cast give hilariously broad performances, with John Hopkins unmissable as Mr Lucas and vile headmaster Mr Scruton. The masterstroke of having the adults double as schoolchildren doesn’t lose its shine. Hopkins walking on as a moustachioed schoolgirl with a cute headband made a lot of the audience spill their drinks.
The music is a well-judged mix, with some moving numbers as Adrian’s parents’ relationship breaks down, and the spectacularly catchy upbeat anthems Misunderstood and Take A Stand. Obviously, the musical cannot do complete justice to the novel, but the sense of anarchy and the ramshackle atmosphere of the 1980s shines through in this deliberately unglossy production. The absurdity of Adrian’s brush with death is realised wonderfully, and his avant-garde Nativity play is a joy to behold that had the entire audience roaring with laughter and is worth the ticket price alone.
Fantastic summer entertainment for the whole family.