Urinetown by Sedos

Urinetown is an bizarre musical by anyone’s standards but by the same stroke incredibly clever and funny in my opinion. It tales the story of a town that is suffering from a water shortage and as a result you have to pay to pee. Failure to comply with this payment results in being sent to Urinetown, the full of extent of what this actually means is not revealed until Act 2.  The whole piece is a satire which mocks everything from the musical theatre form to the title of the show.

Urinetown is very much an ensemble piece. It is very rare to have any lengthy periods which just the principles on stage. Luckily this cast of 22 are up for the challenge and each person on stage develops there own character throughout the show. Joshua Yeardley was a perfect example of this. As a member of the ensemble he frequently had me in stitches, laughing at his character without pulling focus.

The heroine of the piece is Hope Cladwell, played by Miranda Evans. She started off slowly but once she warmed up she was a joy to watch. She had a beautiful soprano voice and comedy timing to boot. Opposite her is Bobby Strong played by Joe McWilliams. He had a huge amount of energy and brought this to all of his numbers.

The Narrator of the piece is Officer Lockstock who was played by Luke James Leahy. He immediately draws the audience in, getting them on side from the get go. His side kick is Little Sally, played by Ellie Jones who I would have liked to have seen a little more naivety from.

The set was simple but used brilliantly. It was 3 sets of stairs moved around to form everything from the secret underground hideout to the roof of UGC (Urine Good Company). This was also done entirely by the cast in a choreographed manner, which ensured that the pace was slick.

The music is Urinetown is also incredibly catchy. The vocals from the company as an ensemble were shown off perfectly during the acapella section of ‘Run Freedom Run.’ The band lead by Ryan Macaulay were well put together. My biggest criticism however was that in a small venue like this and a 5 piece band radio mics for the cast weren’t entirely necessary and often caused more problems than they may have been worth.

Urinetown is a bit of a marmite show but for me I am a huge fan, a clever production with a strong all round cast mocking everything from politicians to musical theatre. What is there not to enjoy?

Urinetown is on at the Bridewell Theatre until Saturday 24th November 2018. Visit their website for more info and tickets.

If you liked this review you might also like my review of Dogfight, Pippin and Candide – all by Sedos.