Little Shop of Horrors

Williams Creatives Productions

Sue Townsend Theatre, Leicester                       October 2025

Little Shop of Horrors is popular with amateur societies and loved by audiences. A relatively simple, if crazy, story is helped along by some interesting characters, enjoyable music, attractive dance and a carnivorous, speaking pot plant!

On arrival at the Sue Townsend Theatre we were greeted by the show’s Director, Victoria Porter, with a ‘goodie-bag’ including the show’s informative and attractive programme. A nice welcome, which also gave us a chance for a good chat with Victoria, providing an interesting insight to the show and its build-up.

A feature of this group is its focus on inclusivity and, to quote the programme, “providing opportunities for people from all walks of life to share the joy of live theatre”. Williams Creatives achieved this splendidly with this production, in which a cast with varying degrees of theatre experience pulled together to produce a real ‘team effort’ and an entertainment clearly enjoyed by a first-night audience.

The Show

Before the opening company number, we were given a taste of downtrodden Skid Row, the setting for the musical, complete with overflowing dustbins and a vagrant, (Alex Tomlinson), waking occasionally to provide a distraction from scene-change delays by sorting through the piles of domestic rubbish, with accompanying bin-lid clanging!

Once the scene was set, the show opened with a prologue – the title song, attractively led by song and dance trio Chiffon, Ronette & Crystal (names evocative of 1960’s US pop music), played by Vikki Taylor, Tash Bailey and Sienna Barnes. These three appeared frequently throughout the production and worked well, individually and collectively, as the show’s dancing ‘girl band’.

The trio were soon joined by the rest of the ensemble, who gave us the big chorus movement number Downtown, showing the level of the company’s vocal and movement talents and the degree to which they’d been coached. Congratulations to Musical Director Emm Pearson, Choreographer Jacob Bale and Dance Captain Isla Singleton for their thorough preparation of the music and movement throughout the production.

After the opening chorus we found ourselves in the rundown flower shop in this  downtrodden part of town. The shop’s weary proprietor Mr Mushnick announces that the shop is on the verge of closing as a failed business. Matt Brown performed this role with appropriate and comedic frustration. The soon-to-be-unemployed assistants are Seymour (Harry Mason) and Audrey (Emily Haywood). When we first meet him, Seymour is played with a fresh innocence, a willingness to succeed and an evident affection for his colleague Audrey which he is too shy to declare. As the story progresses, his character changes and Harry very effectively and with good stage timing portrays his descent into a reluctant servant of the malevolent plant-creature that he has unwittingly nurtured. His light-comedy acting and pleasing singing voice are effectively demonstrated in his song Grow For Me, in which he implores his plant (Audrey 2, named after the girl he loves) to thrive.

From her first entrance, Emily is effective both visually and dramatically as Audrey, the attractive and fun-loving girl with an unfortunate track record in boyfriends. Emily gives a convincing portrayal of the tender-hearted shop assistant whose romantic confusion ends when she eventually responds to Seymour’s affections. Her plaintive song Somewhere That’s Green, sensitively and tunefully delivered, reveals her hopes for a gentler life.

These two performers made a perfect pairing in this production, providing a strong heart of the show.

A contrast to the couple’s light comedy is the exuberant interpretation by Bill Mallon in the role of Audrey’s psychotic boyfriend Orin Scrivello. Bill plays Audrey’s manic, domineering and possessive dentist with energetic comedy, particularly in his expressive song Dentist! with the girlband trio, and in his final scene when his liking for  laughing-gas gets the better of him.

An unseen but much-heard performer is the actor hidden inside the plant, once it has grown to the state where it dominates stage, story and Seymour. Audrey 2’s voice, with its frequent Feed Me! demands, is provided with menacing clarity and volume by Joshua Taylor-Williams.

The principal cast are well supported by a nine-strong ensemble whose frequent appearances add movement and song to the proceedings. Costumes were colourful and appropriate.

The Technicals

Technically, the company coped well with the relatively limited stage-space. While keeping the main setting in the Flower Shop, other scenes were effectively depicted by appropriate action, lighting, and minimal set disturbance. Sound and lighting were sensitive and well-controlled. Congratulations to Stage Manager Sharon Brown, her backstage crew, technical team and Audrey 2 puppeteers for the important technical support.

The Direction

This was an enjoyable production, and credit for its success must go to Director Victoria Porter. Bringing together a company with varied stage experience, presenting a large-scale musical in a relatively small theatre venue is a challenge. The innovative Williams Creative company, led here by Victoria, rose to it well.

My thanks again for the welcome my wife and I received on arrival, and for the chance to chat with Director Victoria and the Company’s founder Joshua after the show. We look forward to our next visit to a production by this enterprising group

Colin Blackler

Noda         October 2025

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