REVIEW: Thor And Loki - The Lowry Theatre, Salford

Direct from a successful run at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year, this new comedy musical by The House Of Blakewell and commissioned, developed and produced by Vicky Graham Productions is an hilarious, camp and cheeky romp of a show, based very loosely on Nordic mythology!

The cast of six multi-talented performers [they act, dance, sing, play instruments and generally strut their stuff throughout] tell the story of the destruction of the world and the gods as we know it. A prophecy is foretold and the world will end and the gods will die. Odin, the god of gods, tells his son, Thor (pronounced 'Tooerr' ) that he must use his strength to defeat the giants and save the world - not forgetting the golden apple tree of eternal life - BUT, he is a pacifist weakling, he loves poetry, music and vegan cooking! Fortunately all is not lost, as the half-giant Loki is deemed unfit to join the army against the gods, she learns from her mother that things were and still could be different and helps the gods in their fight. But what has the giant Viasi (spelling unknown and no programme!) and his magical horse to do with it all?!

The company parody different musical theatre styles in this energetic and tongue-in-cheek show, with excellent and fun ways of involving audience members in the show too. Semi-costumed with items obviously bought from the local joke shop, this show doesn't take itself seriously. It is however a highly polished and clever 75 minute-long nonstop comedy deftly executed.

This is obviously a low-budget production which has found much success as a fringe show. The talented team behind the show; composer Harry Blake, director Eleanor Rhode, Musical Director Harrison White and choreographer Jennifer Fletcher have much to be proud of. I would love to see this show developed into a full-length show with a decent-sized budget. With ideas taken shamelessly from Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, but using Norse mythology instead, this is a show that has appeal, and judging from this evening's reaction and standing ovation, it needs developing.

The company used both pre-recorded backing tracks and augmented this with live music too. I didn't see the need for this personally. Admittedly the cor anglais joke and the nice moment with the recorders would be lost, but I would have preferred to have dispensed with the live playing and used only tracks. I am not at all fond of shows where the characters play the music too - leave that for the band, and let the actors get on with the acting! 

The cast were (only don't ask me who played what - sadly my only real gripe this evening was that there was no programme or cast list available! ) Harry Blake, Bob Harms, Laurie Jamieson, Julie Jupp, Alice Keedwell and the enigmatically named Boadicea Ricketts.

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 22/9/18