WE WILL ROCK YOU Review: show seen Tuesday 27th August 2019

A very brief reaction to last night's excellent show at the Bruce Mason.
It was a fantastic show, with a few major flaws.
The music and dance were phenomenal - the chorus dancing especially, synchronised, striking, spell-binding. The Gaga girls and the Killer Queen's troupe couldn't have been better. The singing was amazing. The costumes were one of the stars of the show.
It was all way too loud - three comments on this: firstly, shows involving music always are - does no-one get a non-deaf non-industry person to check sound from the auditorium before opening night? My belief is that all musos and sound technicians are deaf from years of over-exposure, and the public just put up with it. Secondly, I had my ear plugs as always but they weren't enough. Thirdly, there was a lot of distortion, some throughout and in some songs it was so bad they turned the mic off. A couple of reviews I've read from other nights have mentioned patchy sound quality too: how can the Bruce Mason not have this right?
The acting was top-notch, fully professional, if a little "post-80s-musical cheesy."
And as for the plot and writing: this was, sadly, the weakest point. I'd expected better from Ben Elton.  The plot is light and derivative. It felt not only like a show for young people (and the small mid-week audience were mainly over 50, with a smattering of youth), with a standard "why do people keep asking me who I am?" Bildungsroman theme (never developed, by the way), and a totalitarian world that can only be saved by "the kids", but also a show by young people: written by a co-op workshop of high-school students for their end-of-year show, and then picked up by professional actors the next year. The Bohemians were also highly reminiscent of the Rocky Horror Picture Show (not a bad thing at all, of course!!)
The Principals were all excellent, with my favourite being the Scotsman Buddy, played by David Mackie.
We Will Rock You does what it says on the tin: showcases some 20-30 of Queen's hits, and does it amazingly. Never mind the disappointing story that really only serves to sew the hits together, never mind the sound-quality problems: the staging was so good, the costumes and ensemble pieces kept me enthralled the whole way through, while the singing kept me simultaneously delighted and physically in pain.
In sum: if you love Queen's music, go and see it for sure. If you're young and you don't know Queen: go and see it. If you love a good show, go and see it. If you're not deaf: take some ear plugs and it will still be too loud. The weak story and bad sound quality force me to put it at 7/10 overall, but many of its parts get a resounding 10/10.
Lynette Wrigley-Brown

Just entered a short story competition!

I've just entered a short-story competition - the first in a while. I've been short-listed or mentioned in the top five in the last few I've entered, so it's about time I got going again!
Good Night and Good Morning!