Northern Arts Review for Unfortunate

The story of Unfortunate hinges on Ursula, the sea witch from the Little Mermaid. The evil villain who tricked Ariel into exchanging her voice to become human. This story goes further back than the sweet Disney cartoon version of the Little Mermaid we all know and explores a theory as to how Ursula became classed as evil. Was she really evil? That is the question Robyn Grant and Daniel Foxx who wrote the book and lyrics for this performance want you to think about.

This musical parody started its life in 2019  with five actors as part of the Edinburgh fringe where it received several five star reviews. In 2022, a scaled-up version played at London’s Underbelly, Edinburgh Fringe and a UK tour. It was then revised again in 2023 to include fresh songs, a cast which doubled the original number and special effects to help tell the story.

As you take your seats in the auditorium, ready for the performance to begin, you realise you are in for something different. On the stage is a wonderful piece of set design in the shape of a ship where off to each side members of the orchestra sit. Then instead of the usual announcement telling you not to use your mobile phones, a voice that sets the scene for the entire show makes the announcement instead. one that sounds as if it is at sea and drowning. then we are off. Entering through the doors underneath the bridge of the ship, Ursula ready to tell her story.

Throughout the night, the stage dressing helped to address the difficult question of how do you make the audience think they are at sea. The answer is with the use of wonderful costume and set design by Abby Clarke. I think a special mention should be made to Ursula’s costume. I would imagine the brief was to make a costume that requires freedom of movement, but also has tentacles all round it; this was achieved so well.

Using brilliant songs such as Sucking on You, The Banishment and, my favourite from the first half, We Didn’t make it to Disney, where wonderful fish puppets, which included a hammerhead shark, were brought on to sing the song to represent the not-so-pretty fish of the sea, that never made it in the Disney movie. The songs in the second half were equally as brilliant with a very good take on Kiss the Girl called Ask the Girl, which of the two, as far as I am concerned, was much better; it’s less sweet.

It is hard to believe that there is only a cast of ten actors, as the stage is teeming with wonderful talent and enthusiasm for the parts they are playing. One minute, Allie Dart is playing a French chef and the next Sebastian the crab. and she is not the only one to take on multiple roles in this performance. All the actors played their parts perfectly; it is unfair to single anyone out.

Several themes are addressed, or rather slipped in, during the performance, including pollution in the sea, LGTBQA+ and Matt Hancock’s sole to name but a few. These themes are very topical and it was nice to actually watch a performance where they were mentioned and now move on rather than having the soapbox effect and the audience being bored with being lectured to. There is some swearing in the show, which didn’t bother me at all and, in all honesty, I don’t know how they would have got around not using those words, but I feel it is important to point this out.

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