Fangirls - Lyric Hammersmith

zahidf were you at the matinee?!

Hmm, closest that springs to mind would be Another Level, but they broke up in 2000.

Sorry, can’t think of anything more obscure than that starting with an ‘A’!

Another Level broke up in 2000?! I was thought it was 2001 or 2002? I only remember one song of theirs which is Freak Me as well as the song Dane Bowers did with Victoria Beckham, Out of Your Mind,

Got a ticket for this tonight, couldn't resist as it sounds fun

Really not loving this, but will give the 2nd act a go (as half the tube is down anyway!)

Not a show for me. I felt like it couldn't make up its mind what it wanted to be, a cult shocking musical or a sympathetic look at the misogyny towards teen girls. Felt half Heathers, half Babies. Lots of the lyrics are super fast so i didnt catch a lot.

On the bright side, the lead is incredible

Booked again on the £15 offer (todaytix). Good seats available.

I saw this last Friday and had a fantastic time, thought it was very funny, especially if you're interested in boybands or online fandoms (they were playing BTS on my way out ha). Lots of great performances and catchy songs too. The Concert Medley really cracked me up. It reminded me of Everybody's Talking About Jamie in its humour/sentimental moments.

Quite a rowdy crowd in the Circle — lots of talking and filming and noisy snacks — but a very fun night out!

This is actually really good. I had no idea what to expect when I booked my ticket (£15 third row, well done to the Lyric for keeping theatre affordable!) but soon found myself captivated by this bonkers, borderline psychotic, Australian musical.

Yves Blake has seemingly done a brilliant job at capturing what it is to be a ‘fangirl’. From intense conversations with fellow fans about minute details, fan fiction dumps and the feeling that life won’t be worth living if you don’t handover your life savings to queue for hours and be there in the front row.

The book is really, really sharp. It’s stuffed full of humour and nods to the fangirl scene, as well as more generally what it is like to be a teenager. Jasmine Elcock is great as lead character Edna, while Mary Malone and Miracle Chance complete the friendship group, all bringing a suitable dash of eccentricity and comedy to the dynamic.

The show features a strong, young cast and it was great to see Gracie McGonigal back on stage after impressing so much with her vocals in The Little Big Things. I hadn’t quite expected her fangirl turn to be quite so psychotic but it really was quite something.

Also shout out Debbie Kurup, who played Edna’s mum. She made that mother daughter relationship really believable and heartfelt. Thomas Grant also hit the mark as pop icon Harry, really capturing the banality of the platitudes pop stars shower upon their adoring fans.

The score isn’t exactly conventional. There’s not really any big, memorable numbers in the traditional sense. It serves to power the narrative forward. The concert scene opening Act Two is impressive though, especially with the somewhat unexpected audience participation.

I didn’t expect much from Fangirls but ended up pleasantly surprised by its humour, relevance and heartfelt love letter to fan culture. It rightly highlights how female fandom is so often undermined in comparison to how the sports fandom of men is portrayed.

Four stars.

Still no poll for this one?

Eek, this was a painful show to sit through…

Besides the cast giving it there all, and some pretty cool floor/screen staging and choreography, I don’t really have much positive feedback to give. This is long, but hear me out…

The score: Largely forgettable and throwaway; I highly doubt i’ll be sticking on the cast recording anytime soon.

The book: Oh blimey. Act One and Act Two are essentially two separate shows.

Without spoiling anything to those who haven’t seen it, let’s just say I enjoyed the chaos of Act Two way more than the first, but that’s not necessarily a compliment! Act One felt like watching an episode of ‘The Sleepover Club’, whereas Act Two takes a curveball and attempts to ‘Heathers’ it up. It just did not gel at all. And the ending - oh the ending. It was the classic case of "gosh we have 5 minutes left, how are we gonna wrap this up?!" with the old-age solution of "ah, don’t worry about it - we’ll make every problem go away in an instant!". I was bewildered.

The set: As mentioned, some cool floor screens which I’ve personally not seen in a show before. I actually really liked this. However, the less can be said for the three oblong screens that descend from the rafters and are used for most of the show. From the Circle, the angle of the screens were completely off which resulted in some very wonky faces and unintentional audience laughter. In the more ‘serious’ scenes, it was hard to take the drama on stage seriously when this happened. I’d love to know if anyone from production watched the show from the Circle or above…Lord knows what the view from the Grand Circle was like!

The performances: Across the board, the cast were great with the material given to them. However, the Australian accents…well the less said about those the better.

However, my BIGGEST grievance has to be about representation and the messages/feelings I at least took away from it.

It was fabulous to have a POC lead and trans representation in the cast. More of this diversity please! However, I felt the material demonises the few diverse actors taking on these roles. For example, trans characters are primarily portrayed as bitchy, unlikeable and cruel. Maybe I’m taking this is a little too literally, but it just made me feel a little uncomfortable seeing as that was their ENTIRE character and not a lot more.

I also didn’t get the message the show was ultimately trying to convey - Fangirls aren’t crazy, but actually, they are…!? Well this is what it seemed like they were saying in Act Two.

The Circle was relatively empty on a Saturday matinee (even with heavily discounted tickets), which is always a shame to see, but can I see this having a life beyond Hammersmith? I don’t think so.

I assume she thought she had found the next Six, but I really can't (and don't want to) see it having a further life anywhere...