Dragon Review: I Screamed a Scream – Yvonne Arnaud Theatre

Published on: 7 Nov, 2024
Updated on: 7 Nov, 2024

Sinead Kenny, James Edge, Haydn Cox & Lydia Eliza Roberts Photo Perro Loco

By Ferenc Hepp

If you like to sing along to songs from the best and most celebrated baddies of stage and screen I Screamed a Scream – A Villains Cabaret is the show for you.

The audience is encouraged to join in from the outset but the show doesn’t only feature numbers that everybody knows athere are also many hidden gems from musical theatre.

The show is put on by five talented performers and an equally talented production team who visited the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford for one night only on Tuesday this week. They are from Old Joint Stock Theatre in Birmingham. A very small venue, but with an impressive repertoire and extensive touring success.

The evening is hosted by James Edge, also the show’s producer, and directed by Emily Susanne Lloyd, with Callum Thompson, musical director, on the piano. They are joined by Sinead Kenny (9 to 5 and Aladdin), Haydn Cox (Dear Evan Hansen), and Lydia Eliza Roberts (Heathers, and Footloose), all of whom feature in a Disney medley to kick off the evening.

Sinead Kenny & Lydia Eliza Roberts Photo Perro Loco

Edge is the perfect host with plenty of energy and humour, offering us plenty of musical theatre knowledge, and the background of each number he introduces, including the shows they come from, and the characters portrayed, with plenty of context about what makes them villains in very different ways.

Each performer brings versatility, flexibility, and total commitment to their numbers. The voices are first class, and the performance level is very high, especially considering the technical difficulty of a lot of the numbers.

Roberts is the perfect example of this with her first solo, which comes from Frank Wildhorn’s Wonderland. She hits every note with gusto and complete confidence.

Some very contrasting numbers follow from Hairspray by Kenny and Little Shop of Horrors by Cox, both of which are performed in a very personal and enjoyable way, with the singers making the pieces their own.

Callum Thompson on the piano & James Edge Photo Perro Loco

Despite the theme, there is plenty of humour throughout, and some additions to the smart black outfits that the performers are wearing. When Edge “reluctantly” puts on a lion head dress, as “insisted by the director” and performs a number from the Lion King, the others join him as backing singers, pretending to be hyenas, suggested by a pair of generic ears on all three of them.

Again, all the voices work extremely well together, creating perfect harmonies and a most enjoyable sound, which suit each number extremely well. The audience don’t get away without any participation, towards the end of the first half, three volunteers are invited up onto the stage to take part in a competition to find the person with the best evil laugh. The winner even got themselves a free interval drink.

Act 2 opens with another medley, and more types of villains are introduced by our host, including characters who represent a love interest (Frozen), teenagers (Mean Girls), serial killers (Heathers), and terrifying villains from Lion King 2 and the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

The evening concludes with a very entertaining group rendition of I Put a Spell on You from Hocus Pocus.

Old Joint Stock Theatre Company have some very exciting plans for next year, including three Broadway shows. Judging by the quality of this performance and the small ensemble of performers, I would highly recommend looking out for these. More details can be found on their website: http//:www.oldjointstock.co.uk.