Lovers Actually at The Other Palace (Studio) Review
Written by Greta for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Trigger warnings: Frequent strong language, sexual references & adult humour; haze & smoke effects, flashing lights, replica firearms & audience participation
It wouldn’t be Christmas without a self-inflicted rewatch of Love Actually. After reviewing Sh!t Theatre’s take on this beloved-slash-hated classic last year, we’re back in this 2025 holiday season for the musical Lovers Actually, currently running at The Other Palace as a parody of the original source, made for the enjoyment of the movie’s fans and filled with early 2000s references, movie jokes and racy comedy.
The show retraces most of the plots from the movie, with the addition of musical numbers – a mix of tracks from the movie and Christmas songs - which have been rewritten to advance the story, introduce characters and expand on the relationships between them. I particularly appreciated that the new lyrics very often manage to rhyme or assonate with the original songs’ lyrics, especially important when covering such well-known tunes. A film rewatch is recommended if you want to go and check out the show, as most of the comedy relies on the reprising of the movie line by line, often verbatim.
The choices of what storylines to keep from the original and which to sacrifice are well thought out. We happily leave behind the weak and infuriatingly misogynistic plotline of Colin, who, in the movie, travels to America to find storms of beautiful women eagerly and inexplicably falling at his feet. Some of the minor stories are condensed, like the one with the two stunt actors Judy and John - here pornstars - but are still captured and parodied successfully. In other instances, the endings of certain arcs are changed to better reflect the aggressively smutty tone of the show.
The four actors switch quickly between the many different characters, changing costumes and adjusting the set at a fast pace. The comedic skills of the performers - Joseph Beach, Ross Clifton, Martha Pothen and Holly Sumpton - shine through when they deliver impressions of the original movie’s star-studded cast, with Keira Knightley, Colin Firth, Bill Nighy and Alan Rickman being especially hilarious. Some unexpected hiccups with the set and the fast changes provide actors with the chance to show their gift for improv, creating humorous unscripted moments of connection with the audience.
While parts of the parody land well, other bits get tired after a few reiterations. Liam Neeson’s caricature from Taken, and Alan Rickman’s character being portrayed as Severus Snape, are examples of jokes that landed brilliantly at the start, but were then overused and lost their power. Other numbers struggled to land, especially when their links with the movie are feebler and the dramaturgy seems to go astray.
One of the main shortcomings of Lovers Actually is its tendency to gloss over the film’s most problematic elements, without critically engaging or commenting in a way that feels meaningful. It is a pity, because the show is at its most roaringly funny in the two instances where it manages to do that – like mocking the ‘exoticism’ around Portuguese identity in Jamie and Aurelia’s storyline, and critiquing the shocking fatphobia in the original script. With an original source that, since its 2003 release, has been critiqued at length for how poorly it has aged, while also becoming a mandatory Christmas tradition that we hate to love, there was great potential for these frictions to be explored further and to become a more prominent driving force.
Plays until 4 January at The Other Palace
★★★
