Urinetown

Urinetown: the Musical was written in 2001 as a satire on capitalism, the legal system, corporate management and bureaucracy (among many other things); it even parodies musicals themselves. Mark Holliman wrote the music and co-wrote the lyrics with Greg Kotis and what a great job they made of them.

A severe drought has caused a government enforced ban on private toilets and citizens, who have to use public facilities, are being held to ransom with ever increasing prices, provoking a rebellion from the people. The themes are still relevant today with the fat cats of the water industry seemly being rewarded for pumping sewage into rivers and the sea.

Given the name and subject matter, it could be seen that HMS were taking quite a risk putting the show on. But don’t let the name put you off, under Director Rob McGough’s sure touch this musical was a real corker, utterly bonkers but great fun from start to finish! The talented cast, given Rob's strong direction and Zoe Fisher’s stylish movement and choreography, stunned us from the start.

Nick Williams, on top form and with great comic timing, led the cast as Officer Lockstock, also acting as a narrator, frequently breaking the fourth wall to let us know what was going on – a great help for us poor audience struggling to keep up with the frenetic pace. He was aided by Megan Fisher, delightfully innocent as Little Sally. Adam Fox shone as Bobby Strong, leader of the revolution. He was in love with the daughter of the evil business tycoon, Cladwell B, Cladwell – a sterling performance by Matt Sackman in full Victorian melodrama villain form. What a powerful voice Matt has – taking a mic failure in his stride. Jess Tame was excellent as his daughter Hope, duetting beautifully with Bobby.

There were so many well-formed characters (all with brilliant names) I can only mention a few. You had all obviously thought about your parts and brought out the different characters. Emily Harkness was a convincing plumber, Penny Pennywise; Sean Ridley verged on the psychotic as Hot Blades Harry; Joe Coates as Officer Barrel was more police dog than police officer – a beautifully maintained character! Brian Sweatman was convincingly corruptible as Senator Phipp and Karen Davies and Bill Wallage made believable parents of our hero Bobby.

 A very industrial set (mainly Scenery Solutions) was just the job, filling the stage and providing different levels, including a ramp down into the audience. I particularly liked the tubular slide down to stage level and the clever device for dispensing blood.  Costumes, co-ordinated by Emily Harkness were spot on throughout and Lee Stoddard’s dark and moody lighting created the perfect atmosphere. As always, Tom Davison got the sound pretty much perfect, although the American accents and some diction got in the way of clarity at times.

Singing, to pre-recorded tracks, was superb, soloists and chorus alike, with some great harmonies. MD Helen Castle had obviously worked you hard, to good effect. Scene changes were very slick, thanks to SM Trevor Thurgood and the hard-working crew and cast members, and the whole show moved along at breakneck speed meaning that the evening was over all too soon.

It was so refreshing to see something totally different, full of energy and life, and so funny! This was an utterly brilliant production and the undercurrent of truth running through it made it even more relevant. Great credit to the cast and production team for knitting this mix of talents together to make such a polished and seamless piece of theatre.

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