Manchester Theatre News & Reviews

REVIEW - Unfortunate is a hilarious fever dream of a night out!

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On Thursday, we were invited to Lowry, Salford to see Unfortunate - The Untold Story of Ursula The Sea Witch. Read what our reviewer Leanne Parker had to say about this amusing show...

Based on the book Robyn Grant and Daniel Foxx, who have additionally penned the lyrics that bring to life the original music by Tim Gilvin, this is an updated version of this production, which is back at The Lowry for a five-week festive visit. ‘Unfortunate’ retells the story of ‘The Little Mermaid’ from the point of view of Ursula, the villainous Sea Witch, who we all know is the bad guy of the story. Or do we?! Now, I’m not quite sure what wine the writers were drinking on the dark and stormy evening in 2018 that they conceived this fever dream of a production, but I think I might need some! Because this even I have been exposed to two hours of entertainment which is bafflingly brilliant, raucously ridiculous and fabulously fun.

In this critically acclaimed parody, the character of Ursula we think we know from the original Disney classic is given an audacious makeover and presented as less of a natural villain, and more of a wronged party, gaslit and marginalised by her treatment at the hands of King Triton, his weird king father and much of Atlantis, blamed for a crime she did not commit and forced to become the hard edged, dishonourable diva we all love to hate. And as Ursula ‘spills the tea’, she plunges the audience into a sexy, saucy, and quite frankly, scandalous version of what really went down under the sea. Make no mistake, this irreverent, filthy version of the Disney classic we all know and love is definitely not PG (in fact, it has a guidance rating of age 16+), definitely not cute and definitely not for kids! Writer Grant also directs this fantastic production, which does a brilliant job of flipping the Disney narrative while delivering some pretty impressive statements about the meaning of true value, the importance of having a voice and the empowering impact of demanding the ability to take up whatever space you need to.

The casting for this production is an outright triumph. They collaborate together with seamless perfection to create two hours of joyful silliness with a more than liberal sprinkle of bizarre! Manchester born and bred Sam Buttery (Little Shop of Horrors, The Addams Family Concert, Burnt At The Stake, Cabaret, Taboo, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Jesus Christ Superstar) takes on the title role of the piece and plays it like she owns it. Buttery oozes personality as the tentacle tornado who dominates the stage. Sly, sassy, and sensational, her stage presence is phenomenal, and her vocals are at times, reveals a powerhouse which befits such a larger-than-life character. Buttery’s Ursula is unashamedly proud, and challenges the audience, not always comfortably, to examine their biases about her characterisation, and by extension, their biases in general. There are themes of self-acceptance in a world which values beauty over substance, the insidious and harmful impact of believing the narrative others create rather than seeing people and their situation for what and who it really is and or course, the fragile reality of accepted that the traditional ‘happily ever after’ is the only way to truly achieve happiness. These are handled with equal measures of confronting pathos and gleeful glibness but in both versions, they don’t pull punces.

Allie Dart (The Comedy About Spies, Homo Alone, 2:22 A Ghost Story, Cinderella) reprises her role as the comic crustacean character of Sebastian (and also the French Chef, amongst other roles throughout the evening), for which she already earned herself an Off West End Award for Best Supporting Female. She is simply brilliant. Her comic timing, facial expressions and exaggerated tone in delivery hits the comic mark again and again. Miricle Chance (Fangirls, Starter for Ten, The Witches, The Rocky Horror Show, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Footloose, The Wedding Singer) delights as a vapid, man obsessed (well, obsessed with a specific part anyway!) frivolous version of the traditional heroine Ariel. But this version delivers a precocious, sometimes witty and mostly ditzy version who you cannot help but like despite how annoying she probably is. Scenes shared between Buttery and Chance are like a camp-tastic version of pistols at dawn, and you best believe that the glitter and sea-spray fly! James Spence, (a graduate of Royal Central School of Speech and Drama) is the archetypal preening Prince Eric, a little bit dull, a lot dense, obsessed with his ‘little flute’ (make of that what you will) and a whole lot of syrupy self-entitled.

Blair Robertson rounds out the main cast as King Triton with just the right balance of loveable Himbo and genuinely soft-hearted good guy – wrapped in some rather snazzy sequins and sparkle and some excellent arms! The ensemble cast of two is made up of Freya McMahon (Hairspray) and Fionán O’Carroll (Follies, Beauty and the Beast, The Rocky Horror Show) work tirelessly to weave in and out of the unfolding scenes in a colourful array of characters in a very quick space of time. I was exhausted watching them and yet they keep the pace, bring the energy from the opening to the closing minutes and their constant rotation really does stand out as a standout performance of the evening. To be fair, most of the cast weave between several roles throughout and it’s really well done. This is a razor sharp, fiendishly fabulous cast whose energy and momentum froths like glittery star-studded sea foam and delivers a masterclass in wit and performance on every front.

For those who have seen previous, longer versions of Unfortunate, this is a shorter, snappier, but still sharp as a tack incarnation. Grant and Foxx say they have been careful to keep the original feel of the original, apparently with all the best bits retained. As a newbie to the production, having not seen the original, all I can say is that it was pacey, full of casting chemistry and enrobed in Jasmine Swan’s whimsical, playful, colourful costume and set designs, Adam King’s lighting designs and a musical gravy from Gilvin that complements every aspect of the story perfectly – from the poppy, boppy, frothy pieces, to the loud, proud power ballads and a few club classic floor fillers in between. I absolutely loved the music and the way it had the audacity to make not-so-subtle references to some rather familiar tunes associated with the alternative version of this story, while standing on its own merit and with some wickedly wonderful lyrical content.

This production may be crude, rude and just a bit filthy, but it is also a little taste of therapy for anyone who’s ever felt the horrendous impact of being miscast as a villain by someone else’s narrative of them, or who has ever felt marginalised for not meeting society’s relentless insistence to equate value with beauty. Packed with gloriously bold humour, catchy music, satirical lyrical fun and delivered by a vibrant cast.

WE SCORE UNFORTUNATE...