gemma short writings

Years after the musical of Shakespearean farces opened on Broadway, Something Rotten! has finally made its way over to the UK with an enchanting run at Manchester’s Opera House, even if the egregious amount of references to other pieces of theatre left much to be desired.

My introduction to the musical must have been back in 2019; the one singing class I had at my old drama club that I could stomach (I was not a strong singer at all) was ‘Welcome to the Renaissance’, its opening number that I went on to enjoy for years. My dance classes were considerably more fun (I could keep up but was hardly flexible), especially when we spent weeks tackling the eight-minute number that is ‘A Musical’. I spent years loving these raucous ensemble numbers as well as a couple of the smaller numbers, which culminated in a profound nostalgia when I discovered that not only was Something Rotten! coming to the UK but also that it would be right on my doorstep.

Despite my enthusiasm, I barely knew anything about this tongue-in-cheek musical that fictionalises contemporaries of Shakespeare. From the few songs that I knew, I could deduce a fantastical and farcical storyline based on the obscenely metatextual ‘A Musical’, and I know an Act 2 B-plot number with the secondary love interests when I hear one (‘We See the Light’). However, I found myself at a loss for words upon discovering the specifics of the plot in real time. I couldn’t have guessed them, nor could any sane person. I shall spare the details because one must discover for themselves.

While the entire cast shines during the joyous musical numbers, the scenes in-between unfortunately fall flat. Every actor tries the best with what they’re given, but the writing feels weak, weaker than I would expect from a much loved show that came from Broadway. The story feels too simplistic, leaning too much on archetypes of the genre instead of building upon those foundations. Still, I appreciate the strong comedic performances from the likes of Jason Manford and Richard Fleeshman as Nick Bottom and William Shakespeare respectively. Standout performances have to be Marisha Wallace’s endearing performance as Nick’s wife Bea, and Cory English’s ludicrous fortune teller Nostradamus. I also really enjoyed Stephanie Costi covering the role of the earnest and hopelessly romantic Portia.

Where I really struggled was with the dialogue. Despite ‘A Musical’ easily being one of the standouts of the musical numbers from its dance breaks to the humorous dialogue in-between, it sets the wheels in motion for a ridiculous amount of references both to other musicals and to Shakespeare’s work. While they worked at first– they got quite a few laughs out of me, and the Shakespeare references are initially somewhat important to the plot– I was tired of them by the time Act 2 started. Then they only got worse. Every other line had some sort of theatre reference that didn’t serve the plot but just delayed the performance by a moment while they held for laughter. It was beyond excessive.

But, I firmly believe that this UK production did the best with the script they were given. The cast evidently had great fun with the show, which was palpable; I loved the audience I was a part of, that showed a great deal of appreciation, and who found joy in everything and gave massive rounds of applause wherever possible. I just found it to be a shame that Something Rotten! closer resembled a pantomime than a musical (I love panto as much as the next person, it’s just not what I thought I was paying for!). The original musical was made for an American audience that isn’t the home of Shakespeare; perhaps that doesn’t translate too well here, or perhaps I am an utter theatre snob and a Shakespearean puritan. Perhaps one day I’ll see the light.