I know, another day, another theatre review. This one was originally intended to be in July, after Roo’s exams had finished and as part of a Greek mythological double-bill with “Hercules”. But sadly, “Percy Jackson” changed its closing date so we had to go as late as we could while not missing the run entirely. With one exam to go, Roo said he reckoned he had enough spare time to take in a show…so that’s how we ended up seeing it on the penultimate day of the run. But it’s going on tour, so hopefully this is not a completely pointless review…just don’t turn up in Victoria expecting to see it.
That being said, let me tell you about a nice spot we found in Victoria. I remember the Cardinal Place shopping centre opening around 2004 and it was a fairly small and unremarkable spot. Now it seems to have its own tube entrance, which seems quite newly-opened. And when I say new, I really mean any time in the last decade or so:
The shopping centre also has a giant countdown to tomorrow in the middle, which I think is supposed to encourage you to make the most of the time you have (e.g. “Ten hours till tomorrow! You could drive to Aberdeen!”). I found it kinda unsettling, as it suggests that something bad is happening tomorrow and the best thing we could do would be to drive to the north of Scotland to avoid it. But we didn’t. We just went to the theatre instead.
First though, the nice spot I was talking about – the roof garden just above the ominous countdown. It’s right outside Five Guys, which would have been handy if we hadn’t just been to Pizza Express. But it was a very pleasant place to spend a kill a bit of time in. We sat in the shade, at the tables and chairs but there were full-on sun loungers as well.
And it was super handy for the theatre, which was just a few minutes’ walk away. It’s a modern building so a bit more accessible and well-planned than some of the historical places we’ve been to lately. It might not have the same charm as some of the older ones but the seats are more comfortable and the toilets are mercifully bigger. One day, I’ll do a full-on comparison between different West End theatres based on seat comfort and toilet availability. I certainly have plenty of data.
We also had surprisingly decent seats for once – I think we might have been upgraded when we got the date changed. We were in rows C and D so very close to the front, which was occasionally unnerving when the cast looked us right in the end. I think most seats would have a decent view though, because that’s the joy of well-planned modern theatres.
If you’re not familiar with the “Percy Jackson” series, here’s the basics – a boy discovers he’s part of a magical world and leaves his home to join her magical contemporaries. Yes, I realise this could reasonably describe a few different franchises but this version has a minotaur in it. And a cerberus, which always appeals to me. What could be better than a doggo with triple the heads to pet?
It has been made into a film franchise, which the kids have seen, and a TV show, which they’ve just started watching today. So would it work as a musical? Roo reckoned it did, as Percy often has an internal monologue and what is the next natural step other than putting those monologues to music?
Morgan Gregory plays the eponymous hero and he’s convincing as both an American and a teenager, despite being neither of those. He bears more than a slight resemblance to Tom Holland – which really helps with the high-school-to-hero trope – but at times he also reminded me of a young Hugh Dennis. His singing voice is powerful and he has the right kind of nervous energy for a troubled teen with ADHD. VK, as ever, was pleased to see more neurodivergent representation on stage (tho she said there was plenty of it in “Mincemeat” as well). Angus Benstead is suitably nerdy and skittish as Grover, while also exuding loyalty, and Lizzy-Rose Esin-Kelly as Annabeth is “true to the books” according to Roo, which is high praise indeed. She has a beautiful singing voice and some of my favourite moments where when she was harmonising with Kenedy Small (Clarisse).
There is some multi-roleing going on, although nowhere near as frantically as in “Mincemeat”. The actor for Luke (Xander Pang) also plays Ares and Vicki Lee Taylor as Percy’s mum Sally turns up in several other roles as well. I think there were twelve cast members in total, so a full cast compared to some others we’ve seen lately, and I’m not sure whether this is the same cast who’ll be going on tour or not.
The opening number sets out the whole premise of the story – that the children of Greek gods have issues. I don’t think anyone could argue with that. But it introduces Percy and Grover, along with their professor (Jazz Evans as Mr Brunner), who seems strangely well informed about Greek mythology. And then there’s the maths teacher, who seems even more strangely obsessed with Kronos. There’s a battle and suddenly Percy’s life is turned upside-down as he discovers his halfblood heritage and is whipped off to camp, fighting a minotaur along the way. We meet the manic Mr D (Joshua Lay), who is not living his life despite being the god of wine and good times as far as I recall.
I wasn’t sure how they would do the minotaur and it was a little conceptual but full marks for scale and the glowing red eyes. I should probably mention that there is quite some peril in this show, and it starts with a loud bang. The age rating is 8+ but even the teens jumped at that. Other effects included what appears to be real fire on stage and, towards the end, an ocean moment where the front few rows – including us – get sprayed with foam. Immersive theatre for sure.
The plot is changed a little in terms of the order of events and there are a few bits skimmed over but that’s perfectly reasonable to fit the book into a 2-hour show. “Capture the Flag” in the first half is a gritty highlight, as the campers attack each other in a seemingly sporting way and the first half finishes just as Annabeth, Percy and Grover set out on their quest.
At the interval, there was some confusion because the ice cream queue was right next to the door to the toilets and no-one seemed to know where to stand. But the ice cream selection was the familiar Judes and I went for mango sorbet this time. Nathan and VK both went for vegan salted caramel, which was a leftfield choice for people who aren’t dairyfree, and Roo went for vanilla. We ate in the lobby, enjoying the rare sight of interval daylight and also this spectacular staircase.
This might be a good time to say that Reuben might also be a halfblood of some kind because he does seem to be able to shoot rainbows out of his hands. Maybe that’s a power that’s only activated during the month of June.
The second half was packed with more gods, all of whom VK describes as “iconic”. Medusa also makes an appearance, who I believe my child described as a “girlboss” in a recent school assignment. The gods in this version are styled after rock stars, which fits with the rock-influenced soundtrack. Poseidon is a chill surfer dude – very different from his “Kaos” persona – and Kronos appears only as a booming voice in a pit. There is a twist at the end, which is signposted quite heavily from the Kronos scene but most people in the audience seem to be fans of the franchise already so I don’t think spoilers were a massive issue. When I say fans, I’m just judging by the sheer number of bright orange “Camp Halfblood” t-shirts on display. So I think the twist is supposed to be a surprise to the characters rather than to us as the audience. Around that same scene, the Thalia story is told and it’s done quite beautifully, with the image of a tree projected onto the character of Thalia. Was VK crying at this point? IDK. Probably.
As far as I remember, there isn’t too much deviation from the book and the songs move the plot along rather than adding unnecessary interludes. For example, one song takes the trio across America on their journey in true Muppet fashion. We ideally needed a map with a little picture of a car, but we got something close to that. I know it seems like every film is becoming a musical now but this story seems to fit the form well. You already need a fairly big suspension of disbelief at parts of the plot (Like how did Percy never notice Grover’s goat legs?) so it’s not much of a stretch for the characters to be bursting into song every now and then. Both of the kids have read the books and both enjoyed the show so I think it will please loyalists. And now fans outside London will have a chance to see it too! For more information on that, click here.
So an enjoyable afternoon out. It was possibly pitched a little younger than some of the shows we’ve seen lately but plenty for the teens to appreciate, especially as the characters are around their age. Hopefully Roo doesn’t have to fight a minotaur on his way into GCSE Physics tomorrow tho…
