Young Frankenstein

Life must be getting back to normal when you are allowed to squeeze into the 111 seat Hayes Theatre, which is back open for the first time in eleven months, albeit at 75% capacity.

The venue sprang back with a delicious quantity of concentrated talent in front of a small but privileged audience.

Director Alexander Berlage set the tone at the outset, with black and white text projected on the curtain, in the style of an introduction to an old-style horror movie. It warned the audience that the musical has at times sexist themes and that the actors spent weeks working out how to make sense of the outdated jokes which litter this musical – penned by Mel Brooks as a follow up to his Tony Award winner The Producers.

Berlage made it plain that he was going to have fun with the text and look at the work with a big tongue in his cheek. The aesthetics were scrumptious, as the team behind the stunning looking production of American Psycho again dazzled.  

Contrasting with the black and white Movietone Newsreel interludes was an orgy of colour. The set design by Isabel Hudson was a clever compact layer of steps simulating the outsize of a castle with trapdoors galore, which was often bathed in vivid green.

Costume Designer Mason Browne and Lighting Designer Trent Suidgeest contrasted this with splashes of shocking pink and blue.

The plot is famously silly. Dr Frederick Frankenstein travels to Transylvania to settle his inheritance, left  to him by his mad grandfather Victor, only to be sucked into the family tradition of creating human life from dead bodies.

In this role, made famous in the original movie by Gene Wilder, was Matthew Backer, who milked every moment of schtick like a veteran dairy farmer. He is sorely tempted by the beautiful science assistant Inga. The crass stereotype is turned on its head by the screamingly funny portrayal of this role by Ben Gerrard.

Equally stunning was Shannon Dooley as Elizabeth Frankenstein, who refused to be touched by her fiancé, but in this rendition is overwhelmed by desire when she meets the monster.

Showing a very clean pair of heels was Nick Eynaud as the creature himself.

The six-piece band under the baton of Andrew Worboys was hot and pumping – giving oomph to the slick choreography from Yvette Lee and Ryan Gonzalez.

By the middle of the second act the plot loses its way, but no-one seemed the care. The Hayes is back with another cracking production ,which is a great escape after a dark year.

David Spicer