Every actor is a star, every song a smash hit, and every laugh hides a tear. A must see musical.
EUSOG have done it once again. As one of the hotbeds for young talent, performing at a level higher than most student societies in arts or theatre, they’ve delivered yet another moving, jubilant, tearful and exhilaratingly fun show.
The story follows six children (with 3 lucky audience members) taking part in the spelling bee, each carrying the weight of their mixed home lives into the competition, eventually confronting them one way or another.
Each character is so distinct, memorable and likeable, helped by performances ranging from very good to phenomenal. The different physical habits tell us so much, like the way Olive (Richeldis Brosnan) clutch their hands in apprehension and excitement, or the boundless joy and energy of Leaf Coneybear (Jamie Argo) who turns every line and moment they’re in into a exuberating dance. The acting throughout is incredible and no superlatives can do it justice. Richeldis deservers special praise as Olive for the best single performance I’ve seen thus far in the fringe. Her standout song in “The I love you song” bought me to tears (lighting was also beautifully done here) and has made it instantly one of my favourite musical songs ever. The intensity in her singing, with each quiver in the voice from the emotional weight, was like watching someone possessed by the character completely.
The songs and singing are some of the best in terms of technical achievement from EUSOG, choreography (Amelia Brenan) and lighting (Lewis Eggeling) always served a notable purpose, had clear drive and served to make the actors all shine (literally as well). The first half did have some powerful high notes that didn’t quite sound right, but this was likely the sound mixing which in the second half was remediated. There really isn’t much to criticise here, any gains in costumes or performances would be marginal at best – this show is not what you should expect from student productions, it is far better.
This show feels like every actor stars and that is a tremendous achievement. The zany characters could have just become flat caricatures but instead you feel like you really understand the characters like friends, even if you can’t quite articulate the feelings each keep bottled up throughout. That’s the joy of this show – smiling and laughing so much at the jubilant songs in the first half that sets you up for vulnerability in the second when you further delve into the interpersonal psyches of each character with teary effects. Any show that makes me laugh, cry, laugh, aww and has a couple of incredible one liners is worth a lot more than the entrance fee.
It’s an entertaining, vulnerable rollercoaster from start to finish and I just want to keep buying more tickets.