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Pictures: Johan Persson The Lightning Thief The Percy Jackson Musical Coventry Belgrade ***** What an absolute delight of a show, a sparkling, fast paced bundle of fun and unbridled enthusiasm from a young cast who give it everything and grab the audience along for the ride. And what a delight as well to see so many youngsters in the audience – they are the next generation of theatregoers, the future of theatre, and shows like this ensure they will want to come back. It's 20 years since The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan's American fantasy-adventure based on Greek mythology hit the bookshelves, his first children's novel and the first of the Percy Jackson series which has become a teenage favourite. Percy has ADHD, is dyslexic and seems to manage almost as many expulsions as lessons when it comes to school. He is not a bad kid, not a troublemaker, just sort of . . . well . . . different. Things just sort of happen around him, like on a field trip to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art he is attacked by his math's teacher, Mrs Dodds, who is in fact a Fury . . . which is a female monster of vengeance who serves Hades in case you happen to come across one. Luckily wheelchair bound Mr. Brunner, Percy's favourite teacher, hands him a pen which turns into a magic sword so he can kill the Fury. At this point, those unaware of the Percy Jackson genre, will realise that nothing is quite as it seems, and we are entering the world of the half-bloods, the sort of demigods, children of . . . should we say the Gods' dalliances with the mere mortals resulting in being not quite God and not quite mortal offspring.
Simone Robinson as mom, Sally, and Vasco Emauz as Percy Portuguese actor Vasco Emauz (Back to the Future The Musical) brings a lovely charm to the troubled Percy, who seems to be the only one with no idea of what is going on. It seems his best friend Grover, played wonderfully on Press night by Alex Anderton, is in fact a satyr, which for those not up to speed on Greek myths is half man, or teenager in this case, and half goat. Pan and an amorous encounter come into it somewhere. Perhaps worth mentioning here that Mr Brunner, played by Niall Sheehy (Miss Saigon) is in a wheelchair to hide the fact he is actually a centaur, half man half horse – Sheehy also pops up, or perhaps that should be clops up, as various other inhabitants of Greek mythology such as Poseidon who is in fact . . . now that would be telling. A wonderful performance packed with variety and fun. Meanwhile back with Percy who is sent on a quest to the Underworld run by Hades to prevent a real war of the worlds between the three top dog gods. It seems Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, the big three, divided the world up after killing their father, Cronus. Zeus got the sky and thunder, Poseidon ruled the sea and earthquakes, and Hades was sort of dead lucky and ended up with the underworld. The three had a pact not to have children, which puts Percy in danger straight away, while Hades is suspected of half inching Zeus's lightning bolts . . . remember the title.
Kayna Montecillo as Annabeth So, Percy is set the quest of retrieving the lightning to appease the Gods and prevent a war so sets off with Grover and the remarkably confident Annabeth played in superbly sassy style by Kayna Montecillo (Starlight Express). Who she? you ask. Annabeth is the daughter of Athena and a professor, expert tactician and swordfighter and regarded as the brains of the operation in a lovely portrayal by Kayna. She looks after Percy when he is left unconscious after being kicked in the head as he killed a minotaur that had killed his mother Sally, played by Simone Robinson (Coming to England), as she took him to the Camp Half Blood summer camp. Oh, do keep up at the back. A minotaur is half bull and half man – or half the front row of an international class scrum in this case. A huge, beautifully effective multi-part stage filling puppet. All is not lost though as her life, or loss of it, is her ticket to enter the underworld. Simone fills in her time as a dead mum moonlighting as Medusa, receptionist at the entrance to the Underworld, DOA records – just ask any old school journalist about DOA – and a sequin clad soul singer who can really give her rendition of D.O.A. some wellie. Percy thinks his father has abandoned him and Sally has married an abusive, demanding stepfather Gabe Ugliano, played by Joseph Connor (Sister Act) on Press night. Gabe has what might be described as an olfactory overload, in that one suspects he showers once a decade whether he needs it or not. Apparently, he can be smelt from space. This malodorous mention is important in its own aromatic way as it is an important feature of the plot and its effect on the sensory sensitivities of the various monsters and henchmen employed by the Gods. Connor is less smelly but equally obnoxious as Mr D, the camp organiser who does not like children, or indeed anyone it seems in a doubly delightful display of disagreeableness. Then there is Clarrise, played by Ellie-Grace Cousins (Mamma Mia!), who is the daughter of Ares, God of war and courage, who takes a dislike to Percy and organises violent flag games, while Paolo Micallef pops up as Luke, the son of Hermes, the winged messenger, who, feeling betrayed by the Gods, sees nothing wrong with betrayal as a tactic . . . just saying. Loyalty perhaps not his strong point. Around them as hellhounds, bits of minotaurs, happy half-blood campers, bus drivers, minor Gods, Furies and odd mythical beings, we have the likes of Abe Armitage (The Wizard of Oz), Ellouise Delooze, Becca Francis (Iolanthe) and Amy McEvoy. The music and lyrics by Rob Rokicki (Monstersongs) might not have top 10 hit about them but they are always interesting, and importantly relevant, moving the story along, part of the narrative rather than being just a song stuck in because it is supposed to be a musical. Stand outs are songs like Good Kid, The Tree on the Hill, The Weirdest Dream and The Last Day of Summer. The stage adaptation is by Joe Tracz (Be More Chill), and the show is directed and choreographed by Lizzi Gee (Groundhog Day). The clever, industrial landscape set and costume design is by Ryan Dawson Laight, the potent lighting design is by Tim Deiling with a well-balanced sound design by Dan Samson. It is not always easy with a live band on stage, but singers and band combined well and were never in conflict. Matt Powell added video design which gave instant set changes creating seascapes, the underworld, a summer camp by projection and lighting while the onstage band, tucked away on shelves at the back of the stage under musical director Will Joy did a fine job. Special effects were never complex or CGI heavy just simple and oh so effective with illusions by Richard Pinner while Lisa Connell punched in with fight direction – and there are a lot of fights. The result is a race along adventure story. If you have never heard of Percy Jackson, it might take a while to get into the swing of things but then it becomes a roller coaster ride through the wonderful world of Greek mythology with its tales full of heroes and villains, magic and murder, betrayal and justice way before Marvel found any celluloid superheroes. The hunt for the lightning thief goes on to 18-10-25, don't miss it. Roger Clarke 14-10-25 The Lightning Thief will be heading to Malvern 4-7 February 2026 and Birmingham Hippodrome 24-28 February 2026. |
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