Music & Lyrics: Grant Black & Murray Lachlan Young
Book: Elliot Davis
Director: Gary Lloyd
Reviewer: Christine Stanton
“Enjoyable, Easy Watch“
4 / 5
~This review was originally written for The Reviews Hub ~
It’s the 90s and music industry bad boy Kid Pop is a paparazzi’s dream – falling out of nightclubs drunk, doing drugs and having a stream of groupies following him around after every show. But when he’s plastered over the front page after being caught snorting cocaine, the judge rules that he needs to complete 60 days of rehab as his penance.
Kid Pop – or Neil as he’s known off stage (Christian Maynard) is furious about being forced into The Glade, certain he doesn’t have a problem with addiction like the other residents, turning his nose up at their vices and admonishing them for needing help. Barry (John Barr) is a tanning addict, Phil (Oscar Conlon-Morrey) is a compulsive eater and Jane (Rebecca Thornhill) is an alcoholic – all residents of The Glade and slowly trying to beat their addictions. When new girl Lucy (Maiya Quansah-Breed) arrives – Kid automatically sets his sights on her, but what he doesn’t know is that she’s been sent in by his ruthless agent Malcolm (Keith Allen) to get as much dirt on his as possible to keep him in the papers.
Although this is a story about Rehab and the issues that surround addiction and reaching out for help, this is a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It has fun with the characters, weaving comedic songs such as ‘Wanker’ into the narrative to lighten what could otherwise be a heavy and daunting show. The poignant moments are still there though – a touching song ‘Museum of Loss’ performed by Quansah-Breed and Mica Paris (Martha) is chillingly beautiful, backed up with their strong vocal talents. Pulling on the heartstrings with scenes such as that one creates an interesting balance considering only a few moments later there is a lengthy song about the wonders of cheese.
The addictions themselves are only lightly touched on but are broached with sensitivity – such as the standout scenes with Phil, played by the wonderful Oscar Conlon-Morrey. His vices, coping mechanisms and relationship are the most explored of all the characters and brings some required depth to the storyline. Conlon-Morrey shines in this role, deftly switching between humorous and emotive as he impressively steals the show. Maynard and Allen are brilliant leads – Maynard has strong vocals and great character development, while Allen expertly portrays the cold-hearted, money-hungry agent without making him a cartoonish villain. Jodie Steele also impresses as assistant Beth – another very talented singer, who wows the audience with ‘Die at 27’.
Director Gary Lloyd does his best with the small space at Neon 194 – but characters entering and exiting the stage from multiple points and the stage in the centre of the surrounding audience, creates moments where one side of the audience loudly react to the tail end of characters conversations, with the other side left in the dark about what was so funny – which disappointingly makes for moments of FOMO. While the songs are admittedly quite forgettable, they are engaging for the short moments that they are on the stage and although the plot is easily predictable, it makes for a nice easy watch that doesn’t require too much thinking – allowing you to just sit back and enjoy it for what it is.
Runs Until 17 February 2024
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