Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tickets and more information: https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/show/seussical/
Booking until: 29th December 2018
Production Photos by: Adam Trigg

The characters from Dr Seuss’ back catalogue of books come to life in this colourful 75 minute musical extravaganza. Featuring some of the most famous characters including The Cat In The Hat, Horton The Elephant and Gertrude McFuzz, the show tackles topics from fitting in to bullying to unrequited love. Featuring an upbeat and enjoyable score by  Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, the show echoes the infamous Seuss rhyming pattern and introduces Seuss’ characters to a new generation.

The first character we meet is the famous Cat In The Hat. Complete with whiskers, charisma and a large hat, Marc Pickering is outstanding in this role. Although The Cat In The Hat is more like the narrator/warm up man of the show and doesn’t really add much to the overall plot, you’d certainly miss him if he wasn’t there. Instead the arc of the show follows JoJo (a fantastic performance from Anna Barnes), a resident of Whoville, the tiniest planet in the sky who befriends Horton The Elephant (an excellent heartfelt performance from Scott Paige). The problem is, Horton is the only one who can hear the residents of Whoville and is trying to convince his community that “a person’s a person no matter how small”. Something I didn’t anticipate was how dark of a turn the story does take with Horton. Because he’s such a loveable character, I ended up feeling rather emotional watching him be targeted by the mischievous Wickershams. There’s a whole host of characters that make an appearance without necessarily having a huge arc of their own. Although Sour The Kangeroo has less stage time, Ngozi Ugoh’s powerful voice won’t make you forget her in an instant.

As soon as you walk into The Large space at the Southwark Playhouse you are greeted with Justin Williams & Jonny Rust’s bright and colourful set design, which really set the tone for the performance. There’s enough red and white stripes surrounding the set to make me feel like I was in a candy cane and I loved it. The costume designs by Rachel Cartlidge was also really well designed and injected even more life into the characters.

Overall, if you’re looking for a bright and upbeat musical then run, don’t walk, to the Southwark Playhouse for Seussical. A hugely entertaining show for all ages that makes you appreciate the people you have around you.

Until next time,