With a bloodthirsty, corpse-devouring plant called Audrey at the centre of events, we can only be in the Little Shop of Horrors. It’s a far cry from Jack and the Beanstalk, but the Royal Exchange is known for providing alternative and, usually, zany seasonal entertainment. And they don’t come any zanier than this, especially under Derek Bond’s zippy direction.
One of the longest-running off-Broadway shows, the grisly tale has been hanging around for more than 50 years in one form or another. Written by Howard Ashman, with music by Alan Menken, and based on the Roger Corman film with Charles Griffith’s screenplay, it’s a comic-horror extravaganza awash with gore, glitter and glorious music.
Bond has assembled an outstanding cast who do justice to those Menken songs
The star of the show is that carnivorous plant, a puppet creation with articulated tendrils that grows after every feed. It’s like a giant fly-catcher with ambitions to be an octopus reaching out for fresh victims, brilliantly created by Toby Olié and mobilised by three puppeteers. Chief amongst them, as manipulator and voice, is the remarkable Nuno Silva. It rejoices in the name of Audrey II, of course, as distinct from the mere human Audrey Fulguard, the dizzy yet homely girl who works alongside the gauche Seymour Krelboyne in a run-down New York florists run by irascible Gravis Mushnik.
The in-the-round setting is spare and drab, with half a dozen buckets of flowers and a few bits of furniture wheeled in when needed. This is a Little Shop without a shop as such, which takes away some of the atmosphere. But then this is Skid Row and designer James Perkins has a manhole firmly at the centre of the rain-splattered, rough-textured floor. The costumes have plenty of sparkle from the start when the latter-day version of The Three Degrees – Ellena Vincent, Ibinabo Jack and Joelle Moses – start things off in style and provide a lively chorus throughout of Sixties songs capturing the sounds of Motown, doo-wop, rock 'n' roll and even gospel in the end.
At the centre of it all is the longing for love. Seymour, played with developing awareness by Gunnar Cauthery, longs for Audrey, fetchingly realised by Kelly Price (pictured, right). His discovery of Audrey II is set to revive the florist’s fortunes and make his dreams come true – or turn into nightmares. Eventually, of course, they do find themselves and each other, albeit only briefly. Sévan Stephan makes an excitable and irascible Mr Mushick, moved to adopt Seymour as Audrey II pulls in the customers and the cash. Ako Mitchell as Orin Scrivello, the dentist from hell and Audrey’s belligerent boyfriend, makes the most of his domination before he succumbs to the appetite of Audrey II.
Bond has assembled an outstanding cast who do justice to those Menken songs and music director Tim Jackson works wonders with his five-piece band. Of course, the star of the show is Audrey II, a wonderful creation that grows from being the size of a parrot to a three-headed pre-historic monster. She moves, she speaks, she opens her stomach to engorge her victims. And she is so built that, like the other actors, she has a 360-degree acting range to work in the round. In the end, she features in a brilliantly explosive coup de théâtre, which caps a highly entertaining, full-of-fun show.
