Shrek The Musical, Eventim Apollo, review: a cheap attempt to cash in on an enduring favourite
It’s been more than two decades since Dreamworks’ first Shrek film was released to critical and commercial success. Three sequels down the line and with a fourth on the way, the appetite for the swamp-dwelling ogre who finds love with a princess is apparently endless: there are now Shrek tours, Shrek memes, Shrek rave nights, and Shrek-inspired bath bombs.
Naturally, there had to be a stage adaptation too. Much revised after its short stint on Broadway in 2008, a slimmed-down version of David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori’s musical spent just under two years on the West End in the 2010s. But now back in London following a tour, Samuel Holmes and Nick Winston’s new production feels less like a reinvigorated revival than a cheap attempt to cash in on an enduring favourite.
The plot pretty much follows the trajectory of the first movie and teaches children a sound moral lesson: don’t judge on appearances. It says something that the show’s highlights are mainly callbacks to the animation rather than advances on it; Tamara Tare’s squeaky voice work as the Gingerbread Man provides sure-fire laughs (“Do you know the Muffin Man?” “No, not the buttons. Not my gumdrop buttons”) but mostly these moments just feel like pale imitations.
There’s a reason why songs from a musical that is now 16 years old were largely met with fidgeting and blank faces on press night: the numbers are just forgettable. It doesn’t help that at times it was impossible to decipher the lyrics over the music, despite all the actors practically bellowing their lines. Perhaps that has something to do with the acoustics of the Hammersmith Apollo – but a stand-out performance from Cherece Richards as Dragon, whose powerhouse vocals momentarily lifted the production, shows it can be done.
The animation is partly so beloved because of its crude but sharp comedy that appeals to children and grown-ups alike. But while some of the sly in-jokes for adults remain in this show, any subtlety is swamped by the brash script and performances. Sure, the additional toilet humour will make the kids squeal but for anyone over the age of eight, the excessive farting and belching gags get old fast. Topical jokes about Jude Bellingham, Baby Reindeer and Deliveroo are shoehorned in and, in one inexplicably bonkers and desperate attempt to raise laughs, Joanne Clifton’s grating Fiona dances with a blow-up deer.
Meanwhile, Antony Lawrence (with a shaky Scottish accent) loses some of Shrek’s cantankerous deadpan humour and overeggs the self-pity so he ends up being a bit of a wimp. And, whereas the short-in-stature Lord Farquaad has typically been played onstage by an actor on their knees, that comic bit doesn’t feature here with James Gillan’s camp villain. It feels odd considering that multiple jokes about Farquaad’s height no longer make visual sense. Philip Witcomb’s vibrant designs for the green swamp, the kingdom of Duloc, and Fiona’s castle bedroom wonderfully set the scene, so it’s a shame they’re undermined by a lazy use of screens for some of the trickier action sequences.
It’s not all bad. Todrick Hall is a laugh as the sassy and over-sharing Donkey which is a tricky feat thanks to Eddie Murphy’s defining voice work. The ensemble of fairytale characters (Pinocchio, the Three Little Pigs, Peter Pan et al) bring life to proceedings, especially with their colourful number Story of My Life. Ending with The Monkees’ I’m a Believer is a foolproof way to get everyone on their feet and leaving on a good note.
But this production, while likely to entertain the kids for a few hours, is far far away from capturing the magic of the original 2001 animation.
Until Aug 31; eventimapollo.com