Eight friends, a love triangle, sibling rivalry, jealously, betrayal, love and a little evil thrown in...?For a small town of everyday folk – there’s certainly a lot going on isn’t there? Shhh..., a modern day musical centred around Evan’s failing bookshop, promises to have the audience ‘shhh-ing from beginning to end’. And it does – but I fear for the wrong reasons.The main storyline is predictable, with stock characters; Gay Best Friend, Bad Man in Business Suit, Downtrodden Nice Guy - and is ultimately frustrating in parts. The main plotline is a love story which develops too quickly, with the audience being told the back story very unsubtly instead of being allowed to see it in the performances. There is a subplot involving a ragged toy bunny which left me bemused. I didn’t understand the relevance and feel it needs to be developed further.The young cast tried their best with the demands of the script, but they are at a disadvantage. The material presented is simply beyond them in years. I found it difficult to place them within the world created because I was constantly aware they are not mature enough to match their characters in age. I think in places this was felt by the actors themselves as they stumbled over dialogue, seemingly distanced from the meaning of the words they were saying.The staging is the main obstacle in the production, as the director fails to overcome the challenges of the space. Having the audience on three sides meant that the cast, in an attempt to open the acting arena, spent more time looking at the audience rather than their acting partners. This was not only distracting but unfortunately left the acting flat in parts because they couldn’t work off each other effectively. The director also over-compensated for the small staging area, by having actors run unnecessarily around the whole stage before exiting directly behind where they originally stood. This did a disservice to the cast as it made scenes look clumsy and unprofessional, and if anything emphasised the size of the stage.There are moments when the writing of Dan Greavey and Alison Telfar does work. In particular there is enjoyment to be found in the group scenes, when performers deliver quick-fire lines at one another, finding a natural comic rhythm that delivers. The music, while not particularly memorable, is accessible to an audience new to musical theatre due to its pop-culture feel.
