Little Shop of Horrors

On Thursday 4th November 2016 I went to Norwich's Maddermarket Theatre to see a production of Little Shop of Horrors by Norfolk Youth Music Theatre (NYMT). NYMT are an amateur group of young people aged 9-25 years old. They are dancers, musicians and actors/actresses who perform shows.

Little Shop of Horrors is a rock stage show with a 1960s soundtrack. It is about a man called Seymour who works at a florist shop. One day, Seymour stumbles upon a strange plant after a solar eclipse has taken place; being a florist, he seizes his chance with this new rare plant. Little does he know what trouble it may bring him! He affectionately names this new plant Audrey II after his crush on his colleague, Audrey. Gradually over time, the plant grows a strange taste for human blood and a very R&B potty mouthed voice. To deal with this, Seymour papercuts himself and feeds the plant his own blood but as the carnivorous plant grows, it becomes apparent to Seymour that the plant is big enough to eat a whole man. Audrey II begins to get hungry and every day begs Seymour to feed him but Seymour is becoming weak and dizzy from all the blood he has lost. Coincidently, on that same day, Seymour meets Audrey's boyfriend who is a motorcycling druggie dentist called Orin who loves to hurt people and treats Audrey very, very badly. The plant then tells Seymour that maybe if he "kidnapped" Orin then the plant would be full……

Audrey II continues to grow and Seymour becomes rich and famous. Just when it's too late, Seymour discovers Audrey II's extra-terrestrial origins and his true drive for world-domination.

What I liked or disliked

I really liked the overall play which ran smoothly. All the action took place in the florist shop which was very well built. Seymour was played very well as a normal boy who suddenly gets lots of fame. Mr Mushnik (owner of the florist shop) was also played very well. For me, it was how the actual carnivorous plant was puppeteered that was the highlight of the show. Four individual puppets played Audrey II, each one bigger than the last. This really helped because you could see how the plant evolved over the story.

In the chorus numbers, I couldn't help noticing that all the smaller actors/actresses were at the back of the set meaning that parents couldn't see them.

How it was different from my expectations

The plant was a lot different from my expectations. Before I went to see the show, I had looked at some clips on You Tube and done some research on it and all their versions of Audrey II were that of the Venus Fly Trap persuasion. Meanwhile, the Audrey II who I met in the play was that of an extra-terrestrial.Seymour also looked very geeky with the Einstein hair and the Harry Potter glasses and the goofy front teeth. This helped the audience understand why life must be tough for young Seymour.

How being in the audience made me feel

Being in the audience made me feel very excited as I had heard that it was a very exciting and rocky kind of show. Take it from me, it didn't disappoint. At the end of the show, the audience clapped and cheered enthusiastically whilst some stood up.

I came out thinking that was good. I was impressed by the standard and professionalism of the cast and musicians.

Would I recommend the experience to others?

I would definitely recommend the show to others. I would suggest 10 years or older because the dentist scene is a bit scary and could put you off visiting the dentist. But apart from that minor drawback it was a great show and fun night out.