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press tickets for review

What do you think of when you think about Spongebob? I’m going to hazard a wild guess that you think of an extremely annoying yet incredibly loveable yellow porous sponge wearing brown trousers and a white shirt with a red tie often found flipping krabby patties and catching jellyfish with besties Patrick and Sandy. I bet you don’t think about managerial material leading the environmental uprising following a lockdown due to a manmade disaster about to occur.

Well, if you did think of that… you’ve probably seen Spongebob The Musical before… so bravo on that!

I, however, had not seen Spongebob The Musical before so imagine my surprise when Spongebob takes lockdown and adds a comedic spin on it. Bikini bottom is under lockdown and the government are being an absolute joke, I wonder where they got that from! Equipped with the three line motto made famous by Boris Johnson, there’s plenty of comedy intertwined into Spongebob The Musical taken from that era.

If you’re expecting serious theatre, you won’t get it from Spongebob. But them, who would expect that? Spongebob is vibrant, chaotic and wild. Think pantomime and you’re right on track.

If you’re looking for a vibrant start to school holidays then Spongebob The Musical will be just the ticket. It’s chaos. It’s fun. It’s challenging environmental issues, societal norms and discrimination subtly and sometimes not so subtly hiding behind an incredibly catchy soundtrack with original songs written by the likes of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles and Panic! at the Disco.

I truly lost count of the sheer number of adult jokes that were weaved into Spongebob The Musical. It direct quote from the show “spices things up a bit!“. It’s truly giving panto vibes and I’m absolutely here for that.

The cast were an energetic bunch to say the least. They all moulded nicely together to create a harmonious sea of characters. A huge shoutout to Sarah Freer who has an absolute killer of a voice and to Tom Read Wilson as Squidward who had me in hysterics. Irfan Damani as Patrick, Hannah Lowther as Karen and Divina de Campo as Sheldon Plankton were also amongst my favourites. Plus, Lewis Cornay has Spongebob’s aura and vocals down!

There’s plenty of slapstick comedy and little humorous quirks, like the on-stage squeaking for Squidward walking. Costume and set wise is impressive with a key theme highlighting just how much plastic is thrown into the ocean.

The kids had a blast exploring bikini bottom and so did the bigger kids (aka me). You’ll get your chance to scream the opening theme tune at the end and there was also the opportunity to win a Nickelodeon watch at the interval.

As a child, I was obsessed with Spongebob and would watch it every single day before and after school so something in me needed Spongebob the Musical in my life.

Please do remember this is live theatre so it’s not an animation!

So… are ya ready kids? Because that yellow sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea is causing waves at Curve until July 15th!

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Curve Theatre, Leicester
TUES 11 JUL – SAT 15 JUL

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Age restriction: 5+, no babes in arms
Show warnings: Smoke, haze, flashing lights, bubble effects over audience
Running time: Approx 2 hours and 20 minutes, including a 20-minute interval