Fun At The Beach (Romp Bomp A Lomp)

Southwark Playhouse, 25/05/24

Credit: Danny Kaan

Final rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Returning to the Southwark Playhouse was a risk, after a previous disappointing evening watching London Zoo. This time, in the larger space – I took my seat for Fun At The Beach, nervous about what I was about to witness. I can honestly say, though, that this was one of the best comedic shows I’ve ever seen. The cast, the director and the writer absolutely nailed it. My fear of Jukebox Musicals has been absolutely blown out of the water – and not because it was one – but to play every song as a ‘near miss’ just filled me with absolute joy (and hysterics). And it was one of those ‘musicals’ where I can actually remember the songs as well – unlike a recent example of Standing At The Sky’s Edge which felt to me like a play with songs and those songs being rather unmemorable. This was the opposite and that’s not an easy thing to do.

Let’s start with the set; what is a very minimal ‘beach’ scene with painted flats – it seems low budget. There is the play’s title in showbiz lights above the stage – and two megaphones mounted on either side, which every so often turn in and out (seemingly robotically controlled) to add an extra layer to an on stage gag. But the point is – there’s no need for the set to be anything more than it is – everything is immediately obvious (and it helps that a beach is generally quite a sparse space anyway) – and most of the work is done with the use of props.

The story is all set up to be a simple love story – with actors resembling something out of Grease if they spent a day at the seaside. Then comes “the competition for King or Queen of the beach is about to begin”, and what follows is a squid game-esque unravelling of a conventional tale. Martin Landry (also the writer) is the sarcastic ‘announcer’, who at times indicates he can hear out characters by responding to what they say. It’s a really funny way of keeping the story constantly moving.

And let’s talk about that opening number – a play on Who Put The Bomp by Barry Mann. It’s honestly got to be one of the catchiest tunes to exist – and have found myself singing it non stop. It was also great that in the latter songs this little refrain kept creeping back in. The harmonies were on point from start to finish – a particular highlight being Popsicle (a play on Lollipop by the Chordettes) – where every character hit the perfect note.

Ellie Clayton as Mary Lou was an absolute delight – her character was all the right parts annoying as it was sweet – and the audience felt complete despair as she decided to end her own life during a game of electric shock beach volleyball. There was a recurring theme where two unnamed characters making up the ensemble (Bradley Adams & Dixie Newman) would shout after every song “I had fun” “Me too!” and then run off stage offering no other dialogue contributions – but it was a hilarious gag every time.

The dance routines were also very polished – with one in particular a stand out: during Mature Women Don’t Whine, the cast rotate their arms back and forth – fairly routine. But in the previous scene, one character has lost an arm to a shark attack – so to see him have to carry on rotating a missing arm was just a laugh-out-loud riot. There was puppetry incorporated by Tom Babbage’s character (a fish child he’d illicitly produced with a mermaid) – and a playful ‘reveal’ of the set when the boys went surfing. During that same scene, one of the ensemble waded through the stage on a skateboard with a shark fin attached to the back – its slapstick in the best way.

Seriously one of the best things I’ve watched – huge huge credit to the entire cast, director Mark Bell, and writer – for making this an evening of such silly fun. I’ll be back to watch it again before it closes – and I can’t get those songs out of my head.