If this show was a newspaper then it's definitely a tabloid and not a broadsheet. This is a show by professionals with all the potential ingredients for success. The cast are young and sexy, the staging is slick, the music is loud and the show tries to be a parody of a horror movie with some laughs. However, it comes across as tacky and exploitative.
Pre-show there is a rotund US policeman greeting you with a back-drop of news reports and your expectation levels rise. There are some good musical numbers and some pure rock that does not carry the story as the lyrics are hard to grasp.
The dialogue is not subtle and the references to sex are overt and the costumes leave little to the imagination. The actors are competent, the choreography slick and the voices are all good and the sound system makes you feel that this is a quality product.
However, there is a niggling doubt that like a tabloid it is appealing to your baser
instincts. People walked out on Wednesday night and the show has offensive elements used in other shows but not all of them at one time. Some of the audience whooped with delight while others I suspect did not know what to make of it.
On reflection what it lacks is dialogue and it may have been shortened to fit the festival format but the biggest problem is that only the older policeman has a character that you can warm to.
The cast includes Ciara Janson from Hollyoaks and Antony Costa from boy band Blue - this maybe suggests who the target audience is for this show.
Times: Til 31 Aug, 4pm (not Tuesdays, 31 Aug), 9.30pm (not 11, 18, 25 Aug)