Mentorship scheme review: [title of show] at Southwark Playhouse

Amber-Rae Stobbs is the first beneficiary of the Critics’ Circle/BroadwayWorld Mentoring Scheme which aims to promote diversity amongst the theatre reviewing community. With the support of Fourth Monkey, a programme of experiences was constructed to offer Amber opportunities to progress their writing about theatre and, specifically, reviewing. Learnings from the pilot scheme will be applied in developing the 2025 programme, set to run in the autumn. This review was first published on BroadwayWorld.

Review: [title of show] at Southwark Playhouse

The meta musical about writing a musical (while inherently being a musical itself) is hardly a new concept: Tick, Tick, BOOM, A Strange Loop, and, more recently, Why Am I So Single? are three examples. But what about a meta musical that is 90 minutes long, with back-to-back humour, and has references to make any Theatre Kid feel seen?  2004’s [title of show] makes a comeback powerful enough to leave you wanting more.

I’m sure we’ve all been in a position where we’ve sat around with our best friends, thinking things like “Wow, we are so funny! We should make a podcast!’ Now imagine that, but instead your podcast is a musical, and what’s worse, you have three weeks to make it in time for a festival performance!

Written by (and ironically about) Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen, [title of show] is a jam-packed 90-minute musical about the show’s own creation, with Bell and Bowen as its leads – so there’s the meta. Supported by their best friends, Heidi and Susan (originally Heidi Blickendstaff and Susan Blackwell), it’s a true masterclass in showcasing that writing what you know (as Mark Twain once famously said) can lead to success.

The cast for this revival production was led beautifully by Jacob Fowler (previously JD in Heathers and a member of the winning band on Little Mix: The Search) and Thomas Oxley (previously Jeff in the Phoenix Arts Club production, and a recent graduate of Italia Conti), as Hunter and Jeff. With that pedigree, audience members were sure of a vocal treat, but Fowler and Oxley also delivered whiplash levels of humour, with beautiful comedic timing and a chemistry that would make you believe they were lifelong best friends living in New York. Their two voices, blending together to create effortless harmonies without any ambition to overshadow the other, proved so refreshing to hear. Their first duet, “Two Nobodies in New York”, hit the mark in terms of clarity, technique, and power – a great opening number.

It’s always a joy to hear a character’s emotion and drive in their vocals, something that Oxley demonstrated last night, drawing attention whenever the moment called for it (all, of course, in the best way possible) owning the character as if he actually was, at his core, Jeff Bowen. Versatility is something that Fowler has consistently demonstrated over the last few years in his developing stage career: however, as an observer of a good sample of his roles, this may go down as my favourite so far.

They’re supported by the always wonderful Abbie Budden (Carrie in Carrie, Annette Hargrove in Cruel Intentions), who, for all the right reasons, needs to be cast in more productions, and Mary Moore (Jan in Grease, Amy March in Little Women), equally as talented and exceptionally witty.

Budden can be seen on her main social media of TikTok, with a ever-growing follower count of over one million, evidencing perfectly how, in this modern-age, social media can be a strong driver in an actor’s career. Of course, she has the insane vocal talent to back up why she has those figures. Moore needs commending too, as she provided a lot of the laughs without missing a single beat – with beautiful vocals too, underpinning the gags. Having had the pleasure of witnessing both their careers grow (on stage and through social media platforms) and I can confirm that they did not disappoint.

Budden’s solo, and probably the best known song in the show, “A Way Back to Then”, was stellar, a real tearjerker for sure! Moore’s rendition of “Die Vampire, Die!” was hysterical and, ironically, thought provoking – leaving a deep message about self-doubt in a way that masks it with LOL humour – definitely a highlight.

Part of the beauty of [title of show] is how simple it is, proving that a musical does not need a big, expensive, and fancy set to grip an audience – the music and the book can do that. Four chairs and a simple, yet well utilised background, was more than enough. We weren’t there for the [making of set], as it were.

Christopher D. Clegg’s direction is also dead right for this wild ride of a musical. Anyone who suffered through GCSE Drama’s ‘chair duet’ phase would be proud of his simplistic, but perfectly matched, direction – referenced several times in the show’s script. Throughout the entire production, there was a sense of friendship and comfort – almost as if we, ourselves, were part of the friendship group of Hunter, Jeff, Heidi, and Susan. When they laughed, we did. When they told ‘in-jokes’, we understood them. The light and warm atmosphere was perfectly tied up in the brisk 90 minutes runtime.

The bounce-back resilience of this group of four (five if union rules allows the pianist, Larry – MD Tom Chippendale – to talk) comes through in the perfect balance of individuals seizing their moments and aiding the show in a collective ensemble. Fowler, Oxley, Bevan and Moore orchestrated this beautifully, leaving audience members, especially myself, wanting another 90 minutes.

Will I be buying tickets to go again before it closes on November 30th? Undeniably. This show is not to be missed during its two weeks limited run. A perfect evening at the theatre, indeed.

[title of show] is at Southwark Playhouse until 30 November 2024