In recent years, musicals based on Shakespeare have had a sharp rise in popularity, with & Juliet smashing Broadway sales (and associated world tours) and Six becoming a worldwide phenomenon. The Lovers is the latest production that is seeking to get on the Shakespearean musical hype train, with Shake & Stir Theatre Co combining with John Frost to bring this production back to Australia. 

The production team has assembled a strong cast led by Jason Arrow and Stellar Perry. Immediately, the audience is introduced to Perry with “A Story About Love”, which sets the tone with Perry’s distinctive powerful vocals on show. The production is loosely based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream and brings a pop music score to the classic play, although unlike & Juliet, the songs in this production are all original. 

The production has a light and energetic feel, with Loren Hunter, Jayme-Lee Hanekom, Natalie Abbott and Mat Verevis adding power and pizzazz to the production. There are some great vocalists in this show and while there’s no doubt that Arrow and Perry are the highlights, everyone in the ensemble is extremely strong. 

Unfortunately, it does feel at points as though the cast is fighting an uphill battle with a script that works against them both dramatically and musically. Author Laura Murphy takes a fantasy-based approach to the Shakespearean classic but this ultimately means that the production does not follow particularly well and it is very easy for the audience to get lost, with not a lot of substance in the text to lean on (which is hard to believe given the richness of the source material). 

Additionally, the songs sometimes feel almost like parodies of pop songs, which means that it is difficult for the cast members to truly connect with the work. The magic of shows like & Juliet and Six is that while they take a fresh take on Shakespeare, they do so in an inventive way and have a lot of musical substance to back up the storyline, which in this case, does feel quite lacking. Even Perry, who is outstanding, is seen rarely in this production while Arrow does not have the same opportunities to work his magic that we have recently seen in Hamilton and Guys & Dolls. There are no real show-stoppers in this show, which is a shame, because it is, without a doubt, a show-stopper cast. 

Shake & Stir Theatre Co are known for their high quality productions and the stagecraft on this show does not disappoint with gloriously colourful and flamboyant sets, with Isabel Hudson clearly putting a significant amount of thought into how to cram as much colour onto the stage as possible with coloured petals being thrown everywhere and a giant heart in the middle of the stage to pull focus. The lighting design of Trent Suidgeest pairs well with the set design while the costumes are also sublime. 

Overall, this is a work that has great potential with a top-notch cast and excellent production but ultimately falls slightly short in its script and music. The essence of Shakespeare feels all but lost in this production and instead, the production relies too heavily on a Six-like vibe which it attempts to capture but largely fails to execute. With that said, it is worth seeing for the cast and sets alone and is, without a doubt, a very fun night out. 

Rating: ★★★

The Lovers plays at the Theatre Royal until 16th November. For more information, click here. 

All photo credits: Joel Devereux