This isn’t a sponsored post.
BrumHour saw The Mad Ones at the invite of The Old Joint Stock.
By Dave Massey twitter.com/BrumHour
This production contains some strong language and themes of death and grief.
Review: The Mad Ones at The Old Joint Stock
⭐⭐⭐⭐”A serious but fun coming of age musical”
Directed by Emily Susanne Lloyd, music by Bree Lowdermilk, book by Kait Kerrigan
Sam (Dora Gee) has gained a car, and plans on using it to drive to her new University across America. For their own reasons, neither her mother Beverly (Thea Jo-Wolfe), her love interest Adam (Ryan Bartholomew) nor her best friend Kelly (Safia Bartley) want her to go there.
This is a serious but fun-filled coming-of-age musical told nearly all in flashback as Sam is haunted by memories of Adam, Kelly and her mother. We see everything through Sam’s eyes as he conjures up these visions.
The set is designed as a four-seat car chassis, complete with steering wheel and California licence plate. The car also transforms into a bed for some scenes, on the wall is a broken mirror, shattered into many many fragments.
In a space with less than 100 seats, the audience is very, very close to the action, which is great in one way, but feels raw in very emotional moments. Switching from funny to serious and melancholy was made smooth by this talented cast and the great sound design meant the vocals were so crisp and clear.
This thoughtful isn’t an easy show to watch and even with a total two-hour run time (including interval), it can feel pretty heavy in moments. It does feel a little indulgent in its almost monologue storytelling, but I enjoyed exploring Sam’s character and why she is moving on and the songs are excellent.
The Mad Ones is at The Old Joint Stock until 20th April 2024. Book tickets here: oldjointstock.co.uk/whats-on/the-mad-ones.
