Little Shop of Horrors – A Northcott Theatre Production Review

Little Shop of Horrors – A Northcott Theatre Production Review 0 Little Shop of Horrors (Craig Fuller via Northcott Theatre) Exeter Northcott has produced their first in-house full-scale musical in over 20 years with this month’s production of ‘Little Shop of Horrors’. As someone who’s only pre-existing knowledge of the show was the song ‘Suddenly, Seymour’ and the fact that it was about a plant, the Northcott’s production was the perfect introduction to this cult classic show! The musical follows an eclectic gaggle of characters living and working on Skid Row whose lives are transformed by a ‘strange and interesting’ plant that mysteriously appears after a total eclipse. Directed by Martin Berry, the Creative Director of the Northcott, the show was packed full of pitch perfect performances, campy humour, bloodthirsty plants and nostalgic 80’s references. Alongside the professional cast, which was helmed by Scott McClure as the bumbling Seymour and Leigh Quinn as the ditzy Audrey, the ensemble was made up of members of the local community. This showcased the Northcott’s long running dedication to promoting arts opportunities to people of all ages in the South West. The ever-growing anthropomorphic Venus flytrap, Audrey II was brilliantly (and terrifyingly) voiced by Dashaun Vegas. A standout performance for me was Ross Clifton as the zany and slightly sadistic dentist Dr Orin Scrivello, who captured the audience’s attention every time he was onstage with his raucously funny physical performance, especially in the song ‘Dentist!’. The costumes were interesting and unique, with the Greek Chorus trio of street urchins decked out in outfits reminiscent of the girl groups of the 80s, with an otherworldly spin. The set design perfectly depicts the run-down flower shop where our story takes place. The design and puppeteering of the ever-growing Audrey II was phenomenal and left me in awe of how they achieved the tremendous practical effects. For a show focused on humans falling prey to a bloodthirsty non-human entity, it was disappointing that many of the prop signs were seemingly made using AI generated images, especially when contrasted with the excellent puppets used for Audrey II. The Northcott’s production of ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ marks what is hopefully a new future of producing musicals, as this was certainly a production you wouldn’t want to miss. The brilliant performance left a lasting message to the audience: Don’t feed the plants!