The idea that there are two sides to every story brought new life to The Wizard of Oz when Wicked hit the stage in the early 2000s with huge success. In similar style, Unfortunate sets out to reinterpret Disney’s animated classic The Little Mermaid from the perspective of the villainous Ursula the Sea Witch. All the familiar Disney characters are present, including Sebastian the Crab, Prince Eric, King Triton and his beautiful daughter Ariel, yet each one has been reinterpreted with themes of a more adult nature. This underwater tale is loud, proud and crude from start to finish and definitely not one to bring the kids along to.
Like many so-called villains, we learn that Ursula’s upbringing was a difficult one. Being teased from an early age, having to endure her tentacles being tied up by bullies and being subjected to constant reminders of her place at the bottom of the marine social order did some serious harm to the young Octopus-girl’s self esteem.
Meanwhile, King Neptune’s son Triton has come of age and it is time for him to choose his future queen of the ocean. Cousin Kirsty the sea cucumber is the hotly tipped favourite, yet Ursula is the the object of Triton’s affection. Neptune shocks his son by announcing that a brutal murder has been discovered and all fingers point to Ursula, who is therefore banished to the dark depths of the ocean for an eternity.
Skip forward twenty years and Triton is now king of the ocean, a widower with one surviving mermaid daughter Ariel who longs to be part of the human world ‘up there’. This may now feel like familiar territory but a very different story is about to unfold.
Ursula is played by the enormously talented Shawna Hamic who seems to have been born to play the role. From her first entrance, Hamic commands the stage, effortlessly belting out the first of many brilliantly scored songs. As Triton, Thomas Lowe commits fully to the camp silliness and seems to be loving every moment on stage. His powerful voice is shown off in full force during the show-stopping number To Be King in the second act.
As Ariel, River Medway plays the little mermaid as a delightful and hilarious airhead Essex girl. Her adult re-imagined version of the Disney tune Part of That World is one of the comedic highlights of the show. Allie Dart plays Sebastian and an exhausting array of other characters with great skill, whilst Jamie Mawson as Eric and Julian Capolei as Grimsby (and a ‘transformed’ Ursula) create some memorable highlights of the evening.
Designer Abby Clarke has created a beautiful, nautical-themed set that transforms seamlessly from Ursula’s undersea lair to the bow of Eric’s ship. Costumes that are bright, bold and just a little bit kinky complement the action perfectly.
At times the sound quality meant some lines are lost during numbers such as We Didn’t Make It to Disney, and the show would benefit from a few cuts to bring down the running time, but these are minor quibbles in what is otherwise a very polished production that brings the audience to their feet. An energetic, ensemble-driven show full of witty one-liners, Unfortunate presents a mix of queer, camp and over the top humour that is set to delight fans of drag, Disney and debauchery alike.
Running at Curve Leicester until Tuesday 9th April
