Indulge Yourself With An Hour Or Two Of Madness Little Shop Of Horrors

The Crucible’s Christmas musical offering of Little Shop of Horrors is fabulous in every respect. Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s musical dates from the early 1980’s and is loosely based on a Roger Corman B film about an unassuming flower shop assistant who unknowingly creates a blood thirsty plant. And whilst there is some love interest in the form of Seymour and Audrey, potentially murderous succulents are generally not choice subject matter for a musical of any kind, let alone one for Christmas.

Colin Ryan as Seymour makes the role his own. He convincingly portrays his character’s clumsiness and meek nature as well as his desperate desire to please Mr Mushnik, the owner of the flower shop on Skid Row. (The very location on Skid Row gives you a clue that the shop is not doing much trade and is in danger of closing.) Seymour has developed an unusual plant and named it Audrey II after his colleague in the flower shop, Audrey, with whom he is in love. However, Audrey is in an abusive relationship with a dentist (Wilf Scolding) and although he treats her appallingly, her self-esteem is non-existent and she feels unable to break away from him. As she says whilst pointing to her broken arm, after all “If he does this to me when he likes me, imagine what he’d do if he ever got mad.”

The three skid row urchins Lizzy Rose Esin Kelly (Ronette), Paige Fenlon (Chiffon), and Charlotte Jaconelli (Crystal) are on stage for most of the production. They can not only sing and dance to a very high standard but also help move props (dustbins and skips etc) as required and generally assist in keeping the show moving along at a brisk pace.

Wilf Scolding, the abusive and arrogant dentist was excellent, simultaneously portraying both menace and humour. Orin has an interesting approach to pain relief as revealed in his number ‘Be a Dentist’, of which no more need be said.

I must of course mention the star of the show, Audrey II, who unusually was a not a puppet but instead was Sam Buttery. She too conveyed menace with her plaintive cry of ‘Feed me Seymour’. Audrey II’s costumes were magnificent. They were as bright and camp as you could possibly imagine, from the top of her bald head to the tip of her thigh high green boots. As the show progressed, Audrey II became larger and larger as Seymour reluctantly did his utmost to feed his blood-thirsty creation.

The creative team have much to be proud of with this production. Director Amy Hodge has used the unique staging at the Crucible to full effect and has been ably assisted by set designer Georgia Lowe along with the lighting designer, Jessica Hung Han Yun. Jade Hackett’s choreography was both clever and creative and was extremely well executed by all involved.

The band above and behind the stage action were ably led by their musical director, Chris Poon, who achieved just the right balance between his band and the vocalists.

If you enjoy an hour or two away from the madness of Christmas shopping, why not indulge yourself and your loved one with an hour or two of madness at the theatre seeing this Christmas show instead. You won’t be disappointed!

Crucible Theatre Sheffield Until 18th January 2025