ajhlovestheatre

FANGIRLS

Book, music and lyrics by Yve Blake

Directed by Paige Rattray

Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, London – until 24 August 2024

https://lyric.co.uk/shows/fangirls/

There’s a very dark, very funny musical screaming to get out of Fangirls, receiving its UK premiere in a co-production between the Lyric Hammersmith and Sonia Friedman (who apparently has a penchant for teen-aimed tuners with youthful female protagonists, since she’s also currently presenting Mean Girls in the West End) but this unruly Australian concoction needs more work to uncover it. As it stands, Yve Blake’s show is a cartoonish blast of lunacy that never quite has the courage of its convictions, and seems determined to hurl everything at the wall, in terms of tone, plot and emphasis, to see what sticks. It’s a boisterously entertaining mixed bag, messy and more crude than witty, as though Matilda, The Rocky Horror Show and Be More Chill had been swirled round in a blender and emerged with a dodgy Aussie accent.

On the upside, Paige Rattray’s bubblegum-bright staging boasts a diverse, talented cast, flashy production values, a banging score and gleefully energetic choreography by Ebony Williams. Conversely, the piece itself is sloppily structured, and there are plot holes you could drive a truck through (a teenager can abduct and keep captive one of the biggest pop stars on the planet, and her mates are fine with it once they get over the shock?….er, ok) plus a tone of amped-up hysteria that bludgeons you into submission, or possibly bewilderment. Sometimes it’s deeply felt whilst at others it seems like a cynical attempt to cash in on a youth market that is outgrowing Six, mourns the closure of Heathers and can’t afford the ticket prices to Mean Girls. Apparently it has been extensively workshopped since its original Australian iteration, and the mind boggles at what it must have been like before.

Despite all that, it whips up its audience into quite a frenzy. Blake’s songs are generic but they’re rousing and attractive, the voices are fabulous and the dances are executed crisply and with real dynamism. By mixing sections of the fan fiction that obsessed Sydney teenager Edna (Jasmine Elcock) creates into the action, Blake’s book doesn’t always make it clear if what we’re watching is supposed to be taken at face value or not in this high octane examination of obsessive fandom and the societal pressures on modern teenagers. The opening is a thrillingly staged fantasy sequence where Edna and her favourite pop star Harry (Thomas Grant) motorcycle ride through a nighttime city while knocking seven bells out of sinister adversaries, and I found myself fervently wishing some of the later plot developments were also supposed to be figments of Edna’s overwrought imagination, but alas not.

Fangirls captures the abrasive sugar rush of adolescence but the production doesn’t seem clear on whether it’s embracing it or sending it up. The sinister side of obsessive fandom is alluded to, as are some of the other potential horrors of transitioning from child to adulthood (being torn between two parents, domestic abuse, self harm), but with insufficient detail or sensitivity to be properly affecting. It pales in comparison with recent Brit musicals aimed at a similar market, specifically Babies which was a beautifully realised teenage take on early pregnancy, or the current return of the joyful Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World which makes a more persuasive and heartfelt argument for female empowerment.

The staging has a colourful, hi-tech aesthetic, a simplicity and relentless energy that suits the material, although the piece as written feels a bit too long. The act two opening brilliantly captures the manufactured joy of a large scale arena concert (dazzling lights by Jessica Hung Han Yun and video design by Ash J Woodward), with fabulously OTT Max Gill and Gracie McGonigal leading some hilarious audience participation as a pair of over-emotional youngsters, and some of the songs hit pleasingly home.

Elcock makes a refreshingly quirky leading lady and she and the ever-marvellous Debbie Kurup (who is incapable of giving a bad performance in anything) provide the show with what heart it has as Edna and her overstretched mum. McGonigal has a stunning voice and there’s a fun running joke which has her turning up to belt and riff whenever there’s a scene change. Terique Jarrett is magnetic and athletic as an American fan Edna’s never met. Miracle Chance and Mary Malone work hard to inject the comedy into two of Edna’s schoolmates yet are more effective in the serious moments, and Thomas Grant has authentic pop star swagger as the focus of all their obsessions. There’s even an amusing pre-recorded cameo from a multi-award winning actor and director who happens to be the sister of one of the lead producers…

Friedman and the Lyric couldn’t have programmed this sassy rainbow-burst of a show for a better time of year, what with the long school summer holidays being upon us. Whether or not its long term prospects are as bright as the undeniable talent on display will depend on whether or not British audiences embrace it with the same enthusiasm as the Australians did…judging by the reaction on the night I saw it, Fangirls could very well find a fanbase here.