Kiss Me, Kate at the Barbican Theatre

Wunderbar! This show truly is brilliant! Yet another show that I went into blind only knowing the song Too Darn Hot and from start to finish I was smiling and laughing the whole time.

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD*

My Review:

The rotating set brilliantly showcases both the behind-the-scenes and on-stage experience of opening a new show to the audience and this is similar to the staging of Noises Off however this show featured a constant rotation rather than Noises Off which used intervals to separate the locations. Personally, I think the rotating set allowed the show to flow more and prevented transitions between on-stage and backstage from feeling blunt and disruptive to the flow of the show.

The show opens with Another Op’nin’, Another Show led by Josie Bensen (Hattie) who is joined by the Company. This is a brilliantly upbeat opening for this that I thoroughly enjoyed, however, I am not sure if this is due to microphone issues but certain moments felt as though they lacked power and were difficult for me to hear. Anna McGarahan (Lilli Vanessi/Katharine) led the show alongside Adrian Dunbar (Fred Graham/Petruchio) with power and talent from both of them. Anna McGarahan’s rendition of So In Love left me speechless with her impeccable range and voice that is so smooth and a joy to listen to. Adrian Dunbar truly shone in his solo, Where Is The Life That Late I Led, as he balanced the comedy of this song with the required vocals brilliantly in a way that left me impressed with his talent. Georgina Onuorah (Lois Lane/Bianca) is a true star of West End today and she is entirely deserving of all the attention that she receives with her absolutely incredible voice and characterisation. I could have listened to her solo, Always True To You In My Fashion, on repeat as her variation and stunning vocals kept this song engaging on every new verse and her final riffs had me in awe due to how impressive they were. Charlie Stemp (Bill Calhoun) maintains his reputation as a phenomenal dancer when he performs alongside Jack Butterworth (Paul) in Too Darn Hot. However, he also wows with his voice during Bianca which perfectly blends choreography and vocals from Charlie Stemp into a wonderful performance. Nigel Lindsay and Hammed Animashaun play the Gangsters in the show and they are absolutely hilarious throughout the show, however, it was their Brush Up Your Shakespeare that not only left me absolutely floored but cemented their brilliant addition and talent in this show. Every time this started was hilarious, and them telling the audience to stop cheering and instead join in with them was just perfect, and this was possibly one of my favourite moments of the whole show. Jack Butterworth was fabulous leading Too Darn Hot with sublime vocals and impressive dancing that made this one of my favourite show moments. The ensemble was composed of Carl Au, Shani Cantor, Jordan Crouch, Alisha Capon, Maya de Faria, James Hume, Jacqui Jameson, Gary Milner, Amelia Kinu Muss, Lucas Koch, Alex Lodge, Nell Martin, John Stacey, Harrison Wilde and Jude Owusu and their dancing, especially during Too Darn Hot, was out of this world and it must be said that the ensemble was an amazing and integral part of this show. I loved the cameo from Peter Davidson as General Harrison Howell as I had no idea that he was in this show and when I saw his cameo I was thoroughly entertained by his appearance on stage as every moment he was on stage his performance was perfect to that of his character and was so funny to watch.

This is definitely a show to catch either before the run ends on the 14th of September or when it comes to cinemas since it has been filmed.

Content Warnings:

The theatre did have content warnings outside of the auditorium which were as follows:

This production contains flashing lights, smoke, haze, a replica gun, and a gunshot.

I did not notice any other moments during the performance that I felt should be mentioned.

Thank you for taking the time to read and I hope this review has proved interesting and helpful for you :)

- AnxiousTheatregoer