By: Cathryn Macey
Tom Fletcher’s magical new musical debuts this half term and The Lyric is full to the brim with families looking for a large dose of spooky Halloween themed fun!
Just like The Artist and The Devil Wears Prada, this lively and thrilling show is a home grown TRP co production based on one of Tom Fletcher’s most popular children’s books. Adapted for the stage by Miranda Larson and directed and choreographed by Tom Jackson Greaves, The Creakers is a special family show with a unique take on dealing with the monsters that lurk beneath your bed…
Starting the show with eerie lighting and suspenseful music, the atmosphere is pitched perfectly to intrigue a young audience. As the curtain raises however, we’re treated to one of the most colourful and cheery looking sets I’ve ever seen. This is Whiffington before the mischievous Creakers come to kidnap all the grown-ups.
Living on Clutter Avenue isn’t easy for the story’s protagonist, Lucy (Eloise Davies). She lives in the centre of this small street surrounded by quaint looking houses. Lucy’s house is a bit of an eye sore. Made by reclaimed wood, cardboard boxes and old bits of scaffolding, Lucy’s house looks large but very messy and a world away from the back lit, petite, cosy cottages that adorn the rest of the stage.
One of the main features of Andrew Exeter’s stunning set are the clouds. They’re fluffy and look like they’ve been drawn by an imaginative child. Aesthetically, the set in Act One reminds me of the contents of a children’s pop-up story book. It’s glorious and captures the essence of this picturesque small town that is soon turned upside down by the arrival of some very unwelcome house guests!
Lucy’s life isn’t perfect in Whiffington, but she has some good friends including proud Scout Norman (Ally Kennard) and a very close bond with her Dad (Rakesh Boury). However, one day she wakes up and all the grown-ups are gone – including her dad.
Initially, this is great news and all the young residents are ecstatic which leads to a riotous performance of “We Own This Town”. But this newfound freedom comes at a cost, as Lucy soon realises in the touching ballad “Home Doesn’t Feel Like Home.”
Can Lucy save the day and drag the grown-ups back up to Whiffington or will her Dad and the other adults stay stuck down in the Creakers’ underground enclosure forever?
To pitch a performance scary enough to thrill children over six without disturbing them must be a momentous task. This is what is unique about The Creakers. Somehow Jackson Greaves, Larson and Fletcher manage to give families a thrilling musical meaty enough to get their teeth into without inducing the kind of terror young children may feel if exposed to something more sinister.
Key to this part of the musical’s success are the Creakers themselves. Yes, they’re somewhat scary when we first see their eyes light up under Lucy’s bed but as we get to know them down in their wicked Woleb lair, they’re less intimidating. Lyndie Wright’s puppet design mixes the macabre with the comic and we’re left with characters reminiscent of Jim Henson’s Ludo from Labyrinth; a little bit gruesome but also too cute to cause nightmares.
As you’d expect from a score written by Tom Fletcher and some of his McFLY bandmates, the music is also a large component of what makes this show so brilliant. Breathing life into these original songs, Eloise Davies and Rakesh Boury shine as excellent singers. Their duets stand out as the most touching moments of the night.
With a live band we get to see on stage in Act 2 and a host of lively musical numbers and joyful dance routines (those Creakers really know how to rock!), this musical must be on your radar this half term. Perfect for children between the ages of six and 12, catch this brand-new show before it heads to London this Christmas.