Little Shop of Horrors

A theatre patron, sitting close to me, was greeted in the auditorium by a rather threatening gentleman dressed in shabby clothes and clutching a bottle of spirits.  But no, this wasn’t an indication that standards at The Players’ Theatre in Thame have slipped, but rather an effort to project the atmosphere of Skid Row into the stalls. The soundscape of city noise was effective, as was the use of a small screen to broadcast a scene-setting news bulletin at the beginning of the show.

No actor likes to be upstaged by a prop, but this company can have no complaints as the sponsors’ money has been wisely spent on a series of fabulous puppets, from a desktop pot to a stage-filling monster.  The plants may have been hired in, but the associated technical challenges were overcome with style.  I don’t know how much time the company had to practise with the puppets, but the team of puppeteers worked together admirably to bring Audrey II to life, from synchronising the plant’s lips to the words and songs, and using the tendrils to attract people’s attention, through to swallowing whole members of the cast.

Getting the sound balance right was tricky, but the company did a tremendous job, with the ever-present risk of feedback just about kept at bay.  The Musical Director was somewhere backstage with her three fellow band-members and they kept in close contact with the onstage performers without ever overwhelming them.  The clarity of the words inevitably suffered when the actors had their heads stuck in gas helmets or inside plants, and the singers also had to be careful not to break through the mix by over-projecting in such an intimate space, but music and dialogue sounded really good most of the time.

The set design was driven by the need to accommodate an enormous plant in the second act, but the concept worked well with the exterior practical door placed so characters could enter from and exit to the forestage.  The engraved transparent panel in the door was a lovely touch, and I liked the fact that the onstage clock could be adjusted.  The relatively few plants on display in the opening scene cleverly evoked a business on the skids, while the upturn in trade provoked by interest in Audrey II was suggested by upgrades to the shop fittings.

The costumes worked well in support of characterisation and context, with Ronnette, Chiffon and Crystal’s costumes echoing the styles of the era, and Audrey’s brown sheath dress appropriately stretching her definition of “nice clothes”.  Seymour’s sleeveless sweater instantly defined him as nerdy, while suits of shop owner Mr Mushnik, and the various agents and entrepreneurs were appropriately dated in colour and cut.

You can’t get away with much when the audience is so close to the action as is inevitably the case in The Players’ Theatre, but the Director ensured that almost all of the detailing bore close inspection while the big picture kept us entertained and enthralled.  Not once did I fear for a missed cue, not once did I lose my belief in the characters, and only very occasionally did I feel that physical expression had been dialled up a notch too high in such an intimate space.  The confidence in the interactions between the company and Audrey II, bearing in mind how little time there must have been to practise this, was truly impressive.  Well done to everyone involved.

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