Little Shop of Invention

Whilst official reviews have been relatively thin on the ground at the moment, I have been trying to keep up with the wealth of shows being put forward for Off West End nominations. Certainly one show I was looking forward to seeing was Little Shop Of Horrors taking place at the White Bear in Kennington. Billed as an ‘all-male’ production although this was not actually the case, Paul Taylor-Mills production was a revelation in terms of invention. Both the design and choreography suffered from a lack of budget and imagination but this was a production that really worked in this tiny venue.

Taylor-Mills had previously spent some time working with Cameron Mackintosh and he brought a little inventive spark to this much-loved musical by getting the girl-group trio – Chiffon, Ronette and Crystal to also play Audrey II. Taylor-Mills had pulled together a strong cast, with lots of swings for most of the roles and this girl-group played alternate nights with men in drag.

Whilst Taylor-Mills was frantic that I should see the boys playing the role I could not actually make that night. I was however more than happy to see the girls playing the plant, which certainly adds an extra frisson to the idea of a man-hungry vegetable.

This production of Little Shop of Horrors deserved a much longer life and for a moment it had the opportunity at the Landor, although this has since been quashed. Certainly there were many things to recommend this production particularly an endearing central performance by Ceris Hine as Audrey, subtle undertones of comedy from Paul Christalos as Mr Mushnik and brilliant MD and keyboard work from Huw Evans.