Little Shop of Horrors at Hope Mill Theatre – review

Little Shop of Horrors is in full bloom in this wickedly funny revival of an old classic. It’s a musically sumptuous feast crammed full of ambition, enthusiasm and botanical bad behaviour, with Audrey II stealing the show every time she opens her lascivious mouth to bitch or bite.

Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s gloriously twisted musical swallows up the tiny stage at Hope Mill Theatre and spits out a production that is big on personality, generous with laughs and positively blooming with lush performances from all the cast.

This B-movie musical adaptation sees hapless florist Seymour discovering a strange plant and finds his fortunes flourish as the foliage develops an increasingly inconvenient appetite for human blood. It looks like the inhabitants of Skid Row are on the up and heading for a happy ending but beneath the camp, carnivorous fun sits a sharper story about poverty, ambition, abusive relationships and the dangerous seduction of getting exactly what you wish for.

Seymour’s yearning for a better life and his tender affection for Audrey give the show its emotional roots, while the plant he names Audrey II provides the spectacularly ravenous cherry on top. Jed Berry is a very believable as the gentle and hapless Seymour, who adores his colleague Audrey from afar. His vocal on “Suddenly, Seymour” is beautifully delivered and his subsequent hysterical unravelling as Audrey II becomes more demanding is both physically funny and painfully authentic.

Maisie Smith gives Audrey a very delicate vulnerability as the sweetly, pretty girl whose hopes and dreams are simply to be “Somewhere That’s Green”.. .be careful what you wish for! Her vocals are pitch-perfect and delivered with a nasal New York twang. This is a nicely judged performances that keeps the B-movie heroine daftness with a modern edge of a girl worn down by coercive control and physical abuse.

Michael Starke delivers a fine comedic turn as the greedy boss Mr Mushnik and Benjamin Yates steals all his scenes with a deliciously dark and flamboyant turn as the “semi-sadist” dentist mainlining nitrous oxide.

Audrey II is an irresistible theatrical creation, gradually evolving from a fairly innocuous pot plant to an outrageous botanical despot. The puppetry is a particular delight, with the creature’s personality evolving alongside its appetite. As it grows and growls for blood, the audience might be glad there are only two acts… any more and it might just swallow up the first few rows of the theatre.

Menken’s score moves effortlessly through doo-wop, Motown, soul and rock ’n’ roll, with the whole ensemble conveying the material with infectious energy. The streetwise trio of singers brings plenty of attitude and comic sparkle, functioning as a Greek chorus armed with brilliant harmonies and fabulous hair.

Hope Mill is a little theatre with big ambition and show business can be a ravenous monster itself. But judging by this production, that beast is being fed in delicious abundance.