Fangirls is a fiercely fun musical about fangirls and young people. With book, music and lyrics by Yve Blake and directed by Paige Rattray, this musical excels at not only capturing that unique sense of passion, intensity and love of fangirls, but converts the entire audience into one. It's a theatre experience like no other, creating a safe space and community to let down your guard and enjoy being lost in the momentum.
Fangirls follows the 14-year old Edna as she has slowly become an outcast at school for being obsessed with boyband Heartbreak Nation's lead singer "Harry". Disconnected from her friends Jules and Brianna for being weird, and pressured from her mother to excel academically to keep her scholarship, and feeling out of place amongst her much richer peers, Edna pours her heart and feeling into writing Harry fanfictions online, believing he is the only one who understands her. A surprise concert stop in her hometown for the Heartbreak Nation tour is the sign that she and Harry are meant to meet, and Edna decides to bring her fanfiction to life, no matter the cost. Things don't quite go according to plan, but life never does, and Edna's life spirals into a messy and complicated but eventually empowering journey.
The cast are excellent, especially Jasmine Elcock as the 14-year old Edna who so brilliantly captures the intensity of being a fangirl. With impressive vocals and a heartfelt performance, Elcock drives the story forward and takes the character and audience on a rollercoaster ride of growing up. Elcock embraces the struggles and flaws of teenage logic, using it to build a misunderstood and strong persona that audiences will root for. Gracie McGonigal is excellent, reminding audiences why she is one of the best young performers in the West End. Delightfully unhinged and quietly powerful, her performance stands out as some of the show's best moments, accompanied by impeccable vocals that astonish.
Terique Jarrett's charming stage presence, infectious energy and sassy dialogue delivery turns internet friend and fellow fanfiction writer, Salty, into a beloved character. Furthermore, his incredible vocals fuel the musical further, with an impressive range. Miracle Chance and Mary Malone as Brianna and Jules are a wonderful pair. Their opposing characters help create a rich insight into a young person's world, each bringing their own well developed storylines. Amusing and entertaining as the duo are, with excellent performances, it's their later moments of realisation and growth that become a testament to the musical.
Debbie Kurup as Caroline (Edna's mum) is divine, bringing a powerful performance to the musical. Painted as the villian by Edna, yet ultimately victimised in her daughter’s treatment, Kurup creates a warm and mature character admist the chaos. Kurup shines in her comedic scene, but is unforgettable in her song. Tommy Grant as THE Harry takes the role in his stride, playing up to the expectations of superstar whilst remaining understated. Despite having a smaller role, Grant shines on stage, and it's hard to believe that he's not actually a popstar, for he utterly transforms into Harry.
The choreography (Ebony Williams) helps greatly in the storytelling, and is surprisingly slick and stylish. The choreography creates an exciting and full stage presence, ranging from snazzy mummified steps, to action packed dance fights and free styling to raps. The music is another great strength to overall piece, with several stand out songs such "Learning To Be Lonely", "Disgusting", "Brave Thing" "Justice" and more. Blake is a skilled lyricist, weaving witty lyrics along with overly poetic lines together creating some laugh out loud lines. The songs themselves manage to be profound and deep when needed, but Blake also chooses to have fun by revelling the ridiculousness of popular mainstream pop song messages.
Fangirls also uses light, sound, stage and projection to its fullest extent, choosing to immerse the audiences in the vibrant world of a fangirl. With cinematic strobe lighting to help stage a concert in Act Two, (Jessica Hung Han Yun), pulsating overlaps of sounds as Edna feels overwhelmed (Tony Gayle), and the endless media scrutiny both on idols and their fans (Ash J Woodward), the technical team have created wonders to emphasis the role of technology and social media in this generation.
Costumes designed by Harry Whitham, Stephen Foley and Kyle Mawnz are deliberate and bursting with colour and personality. Not only stylising the characters but also adding an extra visual delight to the piece, particularly a Cabaret Sally Bowles-coat, and eludes the over the top theatricality of the show.
Blake has turned Fangirls into an anthem for passionate fangirls, harnessing the love into power and advocating for young people to use their voices and be proud. Whilst also poking a little fun at the elaborate fandom theories, Blake explores how healing and positive the small joys and connections can be for mental health.
Fangirls is endlessly enjoyable, seriously unserious, coolly camp and everything that your teenage (and honestly your adult) self would have wanted growing up. Fangirls is currently playing at the Lyric Hammersmith until 23rd August - for more information and tickets, you can follow the link here.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | photography by Manuel Harlan
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