Your Hen Night is supposed to be an event that you never want to end, a celebration with the people you love, and a night you will always remember. Well, at least the last one was true for the hen party of the bride to be – Amanda MacNamee.
5 Brick May & Imagine Theatre debuts its new comedic horror musical – Hen Night Horror at The Pavillion Theatre. The show follows 3 best friends on the bride to be’s hen night, where drinking, dancing and arguing turns into a night they would pray to forget.
Fraser Boyle has absolutely nailed the writing of the play. The flow and naturalistic connection and relationships between the characters resonated so well with audience members and created a hilarious atmosphere around the show. The dialogue was comedy gold with a great play on subtle one liners and sly comments which had the audience in tears.
Ali Cleland has done an amazing job with the music and lyrics for the show. The songs sometimes sprung out of nowhere but each original song was funny, catchy, excellently scored and executed by both production and cast. Hilarious lyrics and great melodies gave the audience something to get into.
The set designed by Adrian Rees was effective and perfect for this type of show. The set felt somewhat grand yet intimate. The set was utilised very well, allowing the show to move at a great pace.
The sound design by David Edmunds & Sam Poulten, paired with the lighting design by by James Brendan Cusker – matched the production perfectly. The strobe lighting and flickering effects added great tension to the scenes and the sound effects were executed and timed smoothly throughout the performance – with one sound effect creating one of the most uncomfortable few seconds for an entire audience I have experienced.
Louise McCarthy gave a showstopping performance as bridesmaid Lydia Monnie. Her comedic timing and delivery had the audience in stitches from curtain to curtain and any time McCarthy opened her mouth. The audience experienced great anticipation awaiting the next line that McCarthy would deliver. McCarthy showcased some great vocal skills within the musical numbers but really shined as the driving force of the shows energy and humour. Just a shame about her cystitis causing havoc from start to finish.
Frances Thorburn was fantastic as Donna Nesbitt. Thorburn created a great character arc for Donna, from stuck up and argumentative to late night dominatrix gave the character a fresh revival towards the interval and was a great turn of events for the show. Again, Thorburn showcased excellent vocals and harmonies during the musical numbers and had an amazing stage presence. Thorburn had a great stage presence and demanded the audience’s attention.
Kim Shepherd was hilarious as Amanda MacNamee. Her comedic delivery and physical comedy fit her character superbly. Shepherd utilised her incredible vocal range and tore the house down with some insane numbers and high harmonies. She created a very good character arc for Amanda, with a great build of the presumably timid, snouty social media influencer with a slightly unsubtle alcohol problem in act one, to then a high intensity, aggressive, panicking prisoner to be on the verge of a breakdown. The characteristics were very thought out and Shepherd created such a fun character to portray.
Matthew McKenna was phenomenal as PC Walters. His over the top, ridiculous accent was belly bursting as it creates some hilarious moments with the rest of the cast, not understanding him, almost leading to some corpsing between the cast. His energy was electric from the offset, getting the audience on the edge of their seats from the 1st second. Again, excellent vocals from McKenna, highlighting his incredible range during the numbers. McKenna has a fantastic instinct for physical comedy. From his first appearance, every element of his movement and physicality was so well thought out and added to the ridiculousness of the character.
Alan Orr as Mr Jeffries had the audience on the floor dying with laughter from the moment he appeared from out of nowhere. The submissive and flamboyant nature of the character made every line land as perfectly as it should have. Orr also had some great vocals during his musical number. His thought process for the delivery of his dialogue was absolutely spot on, making every line effortlessly hilarious.
Every cast member had excellent chemistry on stage and this is what made the show a great success. The chemistry and trust between the actors just highlighted the time and effort spent together and fine tuning each part of the show to make sure it is as funny and entertaining as they knew it could be. This translated to the audience seamlessly and the audience didn’t just have fun, the cast looked like they did also.
In conclusion, Hen Night Horror is a fantastically ridiculous comedy that will have each and every audience member leaving the theatre in pain from laughing.
Get your tickets here at: https://trafalgartickets.com/pavilion-theatre-glasgow/en-GB/event/musical/hen-night-horror-tickets
AMD Studios
Theatre Scotland 
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