Broken Legs Blog

Sheffield Crucible’s revival of “Little Shop of Horrors” is a complete reimagining of the original 80s production, taking the usual story of a flower shop assistant and his murderous plant, and giving it a modern (and incredibly British) twist. The staging feels fresh and new, with TV screens helping to add new comedic elements whilst neon pinks and greens continually remind us that the evil Audrey II is getting ever closer to world domination.

The story begins with Seymour (Colin Ryan) discovering a new breed of plant, which he hopes will be able to improve the prospects of down-on-his-luck florist Mr Mushnik (Michael Matus). However, in a twist that will come as no surprise given the title of the musical, Seymour quickly discovers that his new plant enjoys a peculiar diet of human blood.

One of the surprising elements of this production, from director Amy Hodge, is the decision to allow actors to use their original British accents. This works fine on the most part – Ryan’s Brummie accent means that Seymour is instantly likeable and easy to root for, whilst Wilf Scolding’s nasty dentist Orin comes across as a smarmy public schoolboy type. Some of the lines have been changed to suit a British-set production, but the song lyrics remain the same, meaning that some (in particular the number Skid Row) feel a little out of place, whilst others lose some of the rhythm without the nasally New York accent.

Seymour names his new plant after fellow shopworker Audrey (Georgina Onuorah), who is suffering abuse at the hands of boyfriend Orin (Scolding). Onuorah’s Audrey is a strong female lead, delivering fabulous vocals in Somewhere That’s Green (slowed down from the original soundtrack), although her relationship with Orin is hard to buy into – perhaps a casualty of the fact that we see very little of their relationship onstage. Scolding is deliciously vile, hurling insults at his girlfriend amidst his mild threats, and yet he also delivers some excellent dark humour through the song Be A Dentist. When Scolding returns as several different characters in the second act, all arriving with various contracts and offers for the now-famous Seymour, the actor gets an excellent opportunity to show off his stellar acting skills, with an endless array of different accents and styles that lead to some brilliantly funny moments.

As the plant continues to grow, Audrey II develops a full-blown persona, with the role taken on by Sam Buttery. The initial puppet is cast aside as Buttery literally steps out of Audrey II’s plant pot onto the stage, turning the villainous alien into a fabulous drag act, and using her Venus flytrap as a fan. There are plenty of laughs to be had during Feed Me, as Audrey II begins to have a temper tantrum over Seymour’s failure to bring her more human blood, but the character becomes ever more menacing in the second act, with numbers such as Suppertime and Don’t Feed the Plants. Her murders in later scenes are fairly graphic and horrifying, although the production as a whole is so over the top that these graphic scenes don’t feel out of place.

Further comedic moments occur during Mushnik and Son (reimagined as a Pasodoble, with Matus’s Mushnik brandishing a red cape) and It’s Just the Gas (with Scolding’s character overdosing on laughing gas), whilst more tender moments are found in the burgeoning relationship between Seymour and Audrey (Suddenly, Seymour).

Overall, this production is big and bold, with so many ideas thrown together that shouldn’t work on paper, but look fabulous as a finished product. Where the show really shines is in the smaller details (the shadow puppetry during the opening number, the various entrances via dustbins at the foot of the stage, and Orin’s motorcycle reimagined as an electric scooter). There is a lot to love here – fun, ridiculous and so so camp!

Tom Morley, January 2025