Music and Lyrics: Sam Thomas
Director: Dean Johnson
The central theme of Sam Thomas’ song cycle No Limits is, much like the music (part pop and part musical theatre), relentlessly and unremittingly upbeat. With enough self-belief, ambition and determination, a world of opportunities is there for the taking. Just believe in yourself, find your truth, and grab life’s chances when you can.
For some Thomas’ central message may come across as a tad simplistic. Real life is perhaps a little more complicated than the show makes it out to be. Occasionally No Limits, currently playing at the Turbine Theatre, feels like an extended group therapy session led by an all-singing, all-dancing chorus of motivational speakers. But even if the piece sometimes takes itself a little too seriously, as the first half’s closing number tells us “you can’t write a song if you don’t even start”, Thomas has a palpable talent for storytelling in his lyrics and offers some deftly written tunes here. In Kinky and No Limits there are two great ones. Delivered with garrulous energy by a talented and committed cast these come together to make for an entertaining, if somewhat earnest, evening.
There is not much narrative structure to No Limits and the characters, such as they are, are more archetypes with Twitter hashtags than recognisable individuals. The show is really a series of sung vignettes that explore that trials and tribulations of generation Z life, each of which carry a neatly tailored moral message about moving on in life.
In The Ballard of The One-Night Stand we see #romantic (a witty and engaging Owen Clayton) hook up with #fighter (Michael Mather with a great vocal range) at a club. Can they overcome a shared fear of commitment to make this more than a casual fling? You bet they can. In Anymore we find a heartbroken #catfish (Hannah Lowther), dumped after a five-year relationship, drowning in a sea of rum and coke, hooked on Taylor Swift ditties and watching endless re-runs of TV show Grey’s Anatomy. Can she pull herself together and move on with her life? With enough self-belief, you bet she can.
In the clever duet Another Thing Comin’ we find #dreamer (a truly marvellous Natalie May Paris) and #funemployed (Mary Moore) on two sides of an unwanted ménage à trois with a cheating boyfriend. Can they find solace in each other’s company and move onwards and upwards towards a more rounded, positive life? Boy, oh boy, they certainly can if only they give it all they have. Harry and Meghan would surely approve of all this truth-speaking and go-getting. Others with a more cynical and world-weary bent may occasionally find it a trifle sugary.
The show’s most enjoyable moments come when it finally loosens up a little. In Kinky, an ode to sexual experimentation which opens the better second half of the shortish show, director Dean Johnson injects a welcome dose of humour. Anticipate plastic phalluses aplenty, with due reverence shown to post #MeToo concerns towards considered consent. In the other great song, No Limits, we still get to hear the near-mandatory message, “I’ll never hold myself down again”, but Paris delivers it with such passion that one cannot help but root for her. There is no doubt Thomas has tremendous talent as a writer, if only he would relax a bit more.
Runs until 26 February 2023
