Company: The Hairy Godmothers
A wicked and naughty night with our favourite Disney villains to leave you laughing and feeling empowered.
A narrator booms over the speakers – his voice straight out of a fairy tale, embellished with an Australian accent. We are about to embark on a magical journey, an original story, where we will follow Vil and their quest to become a villain as iconic as Disney’s. Vil is positively evil- loves kicking puppies and vandalising things- but something is missing. They don’t have a very good evil laugh for one, and they don’t even have a backstory which lead them to begin on this path of destruction. Vil soon meets their Hairy Godmother, a bearded beauty in a tall pink wig and glittering princess-like dress who takes moments throughout to reach under her hoop skirt and produce two cans for herself and Vil. Frothy beer explodes all over the stage and the actors whenever they are opened, much to the entertainment of the audience. Equipped with their book “Villainy for Dummies”’ and their trusted guide, Vil meets many iconic Disney villains along the way such as Captain Hook, Ursula and Maleficent. They each sing their own number- parodies of Disney songs where the words have cleverly been changed to give Vil some villainy advice or to explain their own misfortunes.
Those that came to the show expecting a sing-along to the legendary villain tunes of the Disney films may be disappointed by the songs in the show which parody somewhat random tunes from other films including Arabian Nights from Aladdin. It’s still entertaining and well executed, just maybe not what one would expect when going to a specifically branded “Villains” show.
Audience participation is encouraged, two audience members are chosen to be backup dancers for one of the numbers and we get to decide what Vil’s name and backstory will be: in this case, an ex-real estate agent that hates the housing crisis named Boris Johnson. There are multiple times where the performers interact with the audience, making self-aware jokes about the unfortunate tech issues and sharing a little wink-wink, nudge-nudge. It’s incredibly cheeky and naughty throughout, reminiscent of pantomime with that charming silliness. Even when things go wrong or the actors corpse, struggling to get through the lines as they laugh at each other, it lets the audience in on the joke and we heartily chuckle along with them.
Underneath all the tomfoolery and Australian wit is a heartfelt moral: to always be yourself and love yourself for who you are! Amongst the jokes there is commentary on our society, specifically what it is like to be LGBTQ+ and find acceptance- not only from your peers but learning how to accept yourself. It is a heartfelt message which many of us need to hear. At the heart of the show is this feeling of community and acceptance- the love and companionship between the cast shines through every interaction between them and makes it a truly enjoyable watch. Even with microphone problems and a last minute stand-in for one of the actors, the cast still turned it out and put on an amazing show.
Runs until 19th May 2024
The Review Hubs Score
Wickedly Naughty
