Last week, I infiltrated a rehearsal for Cross Keys and 2046 Productions’ upcoming Little Shop Of Horrors. On arrival, I was informed that rehearsal had started at 9am that morning. It was now 11am, and there was no sign of flagging. There was a buzz to the atmosphere: perhaps the delirium of an early morning rehearsal (reader, I have been there). I got the overwhelming sense that this was the energy of a show where the cast and crew are having a great time, and that I should be very privileged to witness it.
Rehearsing for any student drama production, let alone a musical, can be an arduous process. You start early, with hardly any time throughout the day to do your already overdue essay, and any attempt to find new vocal warmups ending with a return to basics in ‘Mrs Tiggy-Wiggy’. But those involved in Little Shop certainly know how to keep things fun. Walking into their rehearsal, I was stopped in my tracks (quite literally, to avoid infiltrating a shot) by the show’s media manager Aimee Dixson, laughing her way through filming Instagram content with cast members Will Jacobs, Eliza Hogermeer, and Cameron Maiklem. Dixson has endless folders of inspiration Reels saved – those who follow the show’s Instagram will recognise her signature sharpness in the tongue-in-cheek content that has been posted to promote the show. The marketing is just the right side of meme-y.
The show’s director, Madi Bouchta, had a day of rehearsals for Little Shop, next term’s Playhouse musical Our House, and a 5am bedtime after partaking in Oxbridge On Stage (she never stops!) – I resolved that it may be more ethical to catch up with her over text. What evolved was a Q&A as sharp as pruning shears – alongside assistant director Thushita Maheshkumar Sugunaraj, producer Cayden Ong, and music director Louis Benneyworth.
Like any production worth watching, Little Shop’s team is crawling with personality. Ong expresses his appreciation for all 58 ‘seedlings’ he appears to have amassed. The team share many an in-joke – special mention to the words ‘devoicing’ and ‘melodramatic chords’, as well as Wally McCabe’s (Audrey II) catchphrase of “and that’s beautiful”. I suppose I’ll have to see the show to figure out what they’re referring to. Louis, on a more serious note, mentions the atmosphere they’ve created in the room: “What has evolved is a sense of care, respect, and love in every rehearsal.”
This is a version of Little Shop unlike anything which has previously graced Oxford’s creaky stages. Whilst the crew (and myself) express their love for the ‘See-Maw’-ing of Ellen Page’s original Audrey, she will not be making an appearance here. Goodbye to the awful blonde wig; hello to a more grounded portrayal. Bouchta sums this up perfectly: “It’s Little Shop but not entirely as you know it.” The director highlighted that she “wanted to bring out the humanity of the show”. Maheshkumar Sugunaraj adds that they have been “exploring so many nuances in relationships,” with a particular focus on the difference between Audrey’s interactions with Orin and Seymour.
There is also a clear love of the show and its history among the team. Bouchta’s love started when she watched the NPR Tiny Desk concert of the recent Off-Broadway revival. She adds that she “became obsessed with Christian Borle”, a rite of passage, I believe. The music was an incredibly strong draw too; love for the musical’s songs were mentioned in every single conversation I had with the team. There are no duds in Little Shop, and musical director Louis Benneyworth is certainly doing the score justice. He teases some reshuffling and additions to the original orchestration, and says that Oxford “will never hear a puppet sound this spectacular again.”
On that note – one of my questions for Cross Keys was merely “Puppet?” I was met with a fitting answer: “Puppet!” Fear not, for despite some reworking, much of the campery in the original stage version has been retained. In a script that necessitates a nitrous-oxide-emitting space helmet and a giant man-eating plant puppet, how could it not? Bouchta keeps many of the puppetry details under wraps, but credits designer Kat Surgay with a mammoth feat: making four different puppets. She adds: “Large scale puppetry is something that isn’t seen a lot in Oxford student shows, so we’re very excited.”
That word comes up again and again in my conversations with the cast and crew. Excited. Excited. Excited. Little Shop have assembled a team of artists who clearly love what they do – and they reckon you’ll love it too. Or at least… it will grow on you.
Little Shop Of Horrors runs from 18th-21st February at the O’Reilly Theatre, Keble College.
