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tickets gifted

For a pretty iconic character, Ursula was woefully underrepresented and underused in the story of The Little Mermaid. Plus, we’ve heard what Malifecent had to say, we’ve heard from Cruella, so it’s high time we heard from the queen herself, Ursula. It’s time for Unfortunate.

I do need you to know, that this is a retelling of The Little Mermaid, with a small prequel of a backstory highlighting a brutal childhood for Ursula. But, this is absolutely not for children. It’s a 16 for a reason. This is everything Disney would not want to see. This is your childhood ruined in a theatre show. It is borderline mania. It is chaos. And it is fabulous.

All the original characters will make an appearance, though be prepared to see Scuttle make a very brief appearance before being shot down in his prime, literally. We’ll see Sebastian, Prince Eric, King Triton, and Ariel. But, as you never could’ve imagined them before.

Ursula’s origin story was an interesting one, and the crossover with King Triton was your typical yet loveable enemies to lovers trope. It’s not until the addition of a framed murder, an actual (sea) cucumber and the intervention of King Neptune that Ursula is banished and the story of The Little Mermaid in present day unfolds, from the POV of Ursula.

Cue Ariel. River Medway was absolutely hilarious as Ariel. Imagine Ariel being a love islander crossed with a TOWIE character and you’re part way there. Ariel has an obsession with the human world, and her rendition of “Part of Your World” reimagined as “Where The Dicks Are” is both wonderfully crude and hilarious, and equally ruined the entire song for me in equal parts. I love it and I’ll never think of or hear the song in the same way again.

Ursula is brought to life with full justice by the wonderful Shawna Hamic who effortlessly pulls the audience in. For me, the stand out performance was Thomas Lowe as King Triton and had a stellar performance of “To Be King”. Julian Capolei as Vanessa was a notable highlight, as was Allie Dart’s Sebastian and Chef role.

The entire cast brought so much life and energy into the performance, which borderline felt at times like an adult pantomime but with a clear cut storyline. There’s plenty of humour, laughs and innuendos and this is a show that will be a superb adults night out. I think there might have been some sound issues in the first act where some vocals seemed drowned out by the backing, but this seemed to be revolved come the interval.

Although this two-night run has now ended at Curve, it will be continuing on a U.K. tour showing locally soon at Birmingham, Peterborough, and Nottingham over the next few months.