When the historically worst ever book-to-film adaptations for Percy Jackson are your frame of reference (so bad they were disavowed by the author) the bar is set very low. Joe Tracz and Rob Rokicki’s The Lightning Thief is better than the films, but that's not saying much.
Better than the films, but that's not saying much
Based on the book by Rick Riordan and with direction and choreography by Lizzi Gee, this show centres on the demigod, Percy Jackson (Max Harwood), and how he might retrieve Zeus’ stolen master bolt and prevent a war breaking out between the gods. It brings in elements of the later series with off-the-cuff references to jokes, events and Greek mythology, often leading to vast bouts of exposition and stilted dialogue.
The musical suffers from an indecisiveness of tone, often employing comedic techniques to poke fun at itself and that it’s a theatre production, that doesn’t always match the gravity of some moments. This creates a messy and careless dichotomy that suggest the actors have been given opposite sets of direction.
The show requires multiple tracks that are physically and vocally intensive, including choreographed fight scenes, occasionally whilst belting at the top of their range. Some, including Harwood, struggle to reach notes and often miss them. His delivery is monotonous, often with a blank expression and no variation in tone or intonation making reactions to a given scene or piece of dialogue disappointing and lacklustre in failing to live up to the character. However, his sleight of hand in producing Riptide is fundamentally impressive and is unarguably a very cool moment.
As fan-service, The Lightning Thief is incredibly successful. As a theatre experience, encountering one of the many monsters in this musical would be a hell of a lot better and more enjoyable.
