Book by Tina Fey
Music by Jeff Richmond
Lyrics by Nell Benjamin
Directed by Casey Nicholaw
Review by Rose Sarafilovic
The younger and more energetic sister to the 2004 film, Mean Girls is a hilarious and heartfelt look into the most confusing, fragile, and dramatic time of every woman’s life: High school.
Set in the fictional North Shore high school, Illinois, the show follows Cady Heron (Emily Lane) as she moves from Kenya and tries to fit in with people her age for the first time in her life. In her attempts to do this she makes friends with art nerds Janis (Georgie Buckland) and Damian (Max Gill), who show her the ropes, and then gets drawn in by the siren song of The Plastics headed by self-proclaimed queen bee Regina George (Lillia Squires). What follows is two hours of slights, revenge, and broken hearts which culminates in a heartwarming reconciliation between everyone who was wronged and a resolution to be better in future; A message which is important now more than ever for the younger audience members to hear, and which effects the older ones just the same.
The performances are outstanding across the board, Lane and Squires vocals are excellent and they execute their roles with incredible pathos, Faye Tozer shows impressive vocal and acting range as Ms. Heron, Ms. Norbury, and Mrs. George, and Kaira Dario and Sophie Pourret give incredibly nuanced and empathetic portrayals of Gretchen Wieners and Karen Smith respectively. But above and away Buckland and Gill steal every scene they’re in, the pair have an undeniable chemistry and effortlessly play off of each other, oozing charisma and charm in every interaction, they also get the funniest jokes and physical gags in the show, each of which they land perfectly.
The quality of the songs fluctuates between some not being particularly memorable and others (“Meet The Plastics”, “Revenge Party”, “Someone Gets Hurt (Reprise)”) being absolute standouts, but all are performed excellently with well deserved praise going to the band under the direction of Musical Director, Tom Slade.
The pacing of this show requires that scene transitions be fast and seamless otherwise all momentum is killed, which is difficult when you’re moving between a full classroom to a bedroom, but this production managed to solve that issue by putting every major set piece on wheels and having them moved on and off stage by the actors, and also in the middle of scenes. Not only that, they also incorporated it into their choreography so seamlessly that I can’t help but applaud them, with classroom chair-desks being ridden around to block and shape the stage and a particularly impressive moment set in the lunch hall where the lunch tables circled around the action in the centre of the stage.
The lighting (by Kenneth Posner) was equally impressive with the lighting during “World Burn” and the halloween section being particular standouts with creative placement of fixtures and shaping the space with lighting. And the costume and wardrobe department (designed by Katrina Lindsay, wardrobe headed by Jess Siddall) deserve applause for the dozens of quick (and slow) changes with each costume being just as well made and representative of the character as the one before it.
With Mean Girls being an adaptation of the widely beloved 2004 film comparisons between the two are inevitable, and the show takes these and incorporates them into its identity. The understanding that almost everyone in the audience has already seen the original allows them to make jokes that the film couldn’t; the subtle nods to the audience throughout and making distinctly theatrical choices with the staging and physical gags (none of which I will spoil as they deserve to be experienced blind) are outstanding and are some of the greatest strengths of this production. This adaptation to the stage takes the core truths of the original film and rather than trying to fully reinvent the plot and themes, simply asks “how would this look if we did it today?” The answer to which is: Excellent.
Excellent
Mean Girls runs at The King’s Theatre until July 11th.
Running time – Two hours and thirty minutes
Review by Rose Sarafilovic (contact@corrblimey.uk)
Rose is a theatre technician, playwright and producer of the monthly performing arts and poetry event A Stop On The Road. With Rose – specialties lay somewhere around absurdism, Shakespeare, new writing and lighting designing musicals. Rose is well versed in many different theatrical forms and has an intimate knowledge of everything it takes to bring a production to the stage. Whenever she isn’t writing, watching, or doing tech for a show she can be found thinking about doing one of those things, preferably while talking to a friend.
Rose is excited to finally be reviewing for Corr Blimey, something that she knows will expand her horizons and allow her to experience a greater breadth of theatre than she’s had access to before!
