The tagline to this production is Greece the musical (but not that one).

Phew, I thought. For I’m the miser, the killjoy, the steadfast, who has never seen Grease and never shall.

“You’ve never seen Grease?!”, they say

“No.”

“What about Grease 2?”.

“That would be a mental,” I respond.

The opening strains of the Grease megamix makes me want to dig a hole, jump in it, and ask a passing stranger to cover me over with dirt until I can hear those agonising ditties no more.

So, reader (hi mum), I was happy, nay thrilled that it was not that one. And my baseline glee was only further added to as the show went on.

Greece is the word. Ancient Greece to be specific. It’s the year 534 BC and the entire country has been ravaged by a dreadful drought. 
Thespis and his sister Poly live on the tiny island of Ikaria where nothing ever really happens, until the entire population (all five of them) are forced to go to Athens to compete in a deadly prayer competition. All hope is lost until Thespis stumbles upon something that will change the world forever. 

Mischief are the team behind the very pleasing The Play that goes Wrong which I saw some 5 years ago. And if anyone was going to get me to enjoy a musical (I keep saying I’m not a fan but regular readers – hi again mum – will point out that I seem to have enjoyed recent ones I’ve seen so why on earth am I peddling this falsehood) it would be these people. And I did.

Let’s get down to brass tacks. Written by Jonathan Sayer, it was very funny. Very funny. And not just in a groan-worthy greek mythology pun-tastic way that was a golden thread throughout, but in timing, characterisation and bombshell lines such as ‘I’m not actually called Adonis. My name’s Andrew Gibbons. And I’m from Crete.’

While we’re on it, Adonis/Andrew Gibbons (Marc Pickering) was my favourite and not just because of the Andrew Gibbons revelation of it all. He made me lollus maximus.

But whilst I have allowed myself the indulgence of having a favourite, I enjoyed you all dearly, from our hosts and mcs of proceedings Bard and Rhapsodes (Matt Cavendish and Allie Dart) right through to the hard-working Greek Chorus (Josh Patel-Foster, Ashley Tucker, Curtis Patrick).

And boy, there were some beautiful voices to boot too. For this, remember, as well as being a comedy de force, didn’t pull back on the songs. And I liked it. For those songs were funny, moved the narrative forward, not overly long or self-indulgent, and any cheese was purely intentional so full marks there. Plus they afforded us the pleasure of the live band, rightly given stage presence throughout, beautifully musically directed by Ben Smith.

The show also gives glorious meta. Thespis (James Spence) , as you might imagine, becomes driven by the divine notion that people can pretend to be other people! This gives license to some fine tongue twister actor warm-ups and knowing Zip (Zap Zop) circle moments. And as he, Poly (Claire-Marie Hall), Melampus (Mia Jerome), Atlas (Luke Latchman) and Adonis/Andrew Gibbons put together the prayer and performance of a lifetime for the Tyrant, it is enough to lift the drought that has plagued their little island of Ikaria.

But wait, let us go back to the Tyrant. The Tyrant (Rhys Taylor) was pure panto camp. Resplendent in finery and sharp of tongue and wit, it was all I could do not to shout ‘booo’ every time they entered the stage (in a bubble bath on wheels, no less). Marvellous.

And with so many OMZ moments (little Greek God Zeus in-joke there), and a romantic happy ending for two of our main players (no spoilers here, my friend), and even a gentle lesson in human empathy and understanding, this was 2 and a half hours of laughter, one-liners and joy

And, to lean into one of the greek jokes from proceedings, but slightly skew it for the purposes of rounding off this review, like the 8th letter in the Greek alphabet, it was pure [iconic] Theta.

Almost sold out, Thespians is on at HOME Mcr until next Saturday 18 July. For more details and tickets, head to Thespians — Greece The Musical (But not that one) | HOME.

Click for full list – Cast and Creatives

Production images: Mark Senior