SHREK THE MUSICAL AT THE THEATRE ROYAL DRURY LANE, LONDON
Theatre Run: Continuing
Performance Viewed: Matinee, Sunday 18 November 2012 (as press)
Reviewed by Kyle Pedley
Shrek the Musical was always going to be a relatively easy sell, but not necessarily so artistically sound. The original 2001 smash hit movie was a fresh, unexpected riff on the fairytales of old and their Disney re-imaginings; witty, playfully irreverent and treading the perfect balance of appeal for young and old alike. So much of it’s dialogue, humour and characters have become instantly recognisable, quotable and inimitable that it was difficult to imagine a stage-bound musical adaptation being anything other than a slavishly loyal re-tread with key sequences stretched out to accommodate a showtune or 17.
Fortunately, Shrek the Musical manages to mostly carve out its own identity whilst staying true to the film whilst rekindling a dash of the originals wit and post-modern spark by turning it’s parodic, referential gaze to other West End/Broadway shows and peeling back a few more of those onion layers of it’s key characters. It’s two leads, Shrek and Fiona, for instance, are given slightly more established backstories that instantly cement them as kindred spirits, a neat touch that is now surprising in its obviousness and absence from the movie, and villain-of-the-piece Lord Farquaad is likewise given some exposition which, rife with irony and allusions to the fairytale creatures he is so intent on expelling from his kingdom, is again a clever, illuminating addition.
