Plague! The Musical

Musical theatre is not something which commands universal appreciation. Its formats are well documented, its cliches much parodied. The Musical Comedy genre is one which often subverts the standard approach – in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Brad Majors’ big number is ‘Dammit Janet’, a horribly schmaltzy tune whereby the impudent rhymes contribute to an overall sense of an anarchic subversion of the musical tradition. This technique has been much imitated and is especially visible in musical editions of popular television programmes – The Simpsons and Scrubs to name but two.

Plague! The Musical is indebted to this tradition. It is a Dick Whittington style romp involving a naive aspiring actor and his first experience of London life. Songs like ‘It’s Bubonic’ rely wholly upon the irreverent title and the notion of a campy operatic chorus singing seriously about an archaic disease. Memorable is a scene where the main protagonist, Clive Hucklefish, falls in love with the alchemist’s daughter. Lurking in the background is a boy named Tommy Tinkle who, apparently , has a kidney disorder and cannot relieve himself. The boy dances, playing his flute around the two lovers. The scene is infuriating - the infantile climax being the realisation of mutual attraction between the characters as Tommy releases a strong jet into the fountain stage left. The players are uniformly talented, accomplished singers but the script is often mindless. There is far better musical comedy at the Fringe this year - the improvised One Night Stand being a fine example.