Gutted. A Revenger's Musical

At the age of seven, Sorrow (Helen George), saw her parents brutally murdered by members of the Bewley family. We now encounter her as she marries the heir to that family’s fortune, played by the charismatic Colin Hoult. For obvious reasons she isn’t marrying for love, but is hell bent on revenge, intending to slaughter all the remaining Bewley’s. This may not seem the stuff of musical comedy, but in Rocky Horror style this is more sex and blood romp than psychological thriller.Written by Danielle Ward and Martin White, it’s a bit of a patchy affair. The plot is pretty formulaic, and there’s probably one twist too many, but there are good things here. Hoult takes on several of the parts, much in the style of Alastair Simm (for those of you old enough to remember that wonderfully subtle character actor). Subtle is not a word to associate with Hoult’s performances, though his own anarchic style adds much to the comic proceedings. There’s a lovely surreal quality to much of his playing and the script, which drives the piece through. There seems to be a lot of ad-libbing going on, especially from the Penny Dreadful troupe who take on the roles of three sinister invisible co-murderers as well as a trio of traditionally incompetent coppers. These guys are very slick and polished performers, and more to the point, very good actors.For this is the reason the show isn’t as good as it could be. The singing is universally good, especially the big company numbers, and White’s score contains some catchy tunes, well played by the band. Unfortunatley some of the acting is pretty weak. I’ve said this before, just because you’re a comedian doesn’t mean you can act. Ironically, the thing this renders weakest in a scripted play is the comedy, and too many of these actors need to learn not to shuffle and downward inflect.Hoult is terrific, as is Lizzie Roper, who is eminently watchable in the big set pieces and makes the most of her numbers with Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine’s Jim bob. Michael Legge as a blind vicar is also excellent. Unfortunately these better performances merely highlight the inadequacies of the others.The production, I understand, was beset with technical problems early on in the run, through no fault of the company, and it’s still rough round the edges in that department. However, it’s a charming enough show, just right for this late night slot (after a few drinks to liven you up), and I guarantee you’ll laugh and come away with a smile on your face.Serial killing will do that for a person.