The Mad Ones, Old Joint Stock Theatre Birmingham Review

Reviews

14 Apr

Reviewed by Clare for Theatre and Tonic.

*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review

Formerly known as ‘The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown’ this YouTube viral musical recently announced a limited run at Birmingham’s Old Joint Stock Theatre with much excitement for those in the know.

The Mad Ones, written by Bree Lowdermilk and Kait Kerrigan is a coming of age story of sorts centres around the character Samantha Brown (Dora Gee), who in her most formative of years goes through the great loss of her closest friend in a car crash and now finds herself with decisions about her future which will take her in a variety of directions, will she follow her mother’s dreams or summon the courage to follow her own path into the unknown.

Gee takes the audience through the story with true emotion and great storytelling. the intimate nature of the theatre space leads you to feel everything she feels as she replays recent events before and after the crash to make sense of it and to contextualise it for both herself and the audience with the help of her three loved ones.

The cast of four are a finely tuned machine with gorgeous vocals for days, each member brings a different side to the story. Alongside Dora Gee as Samantha, there was firstly Thea Jo Wolfe who plays Beverly Brown, Sam’s mother brings strong motherly love in a great performance of “I Know My Girl” and Ryan Bartholomew brings the sweet, kind boyfriend Adam to life with just the right amount of innocence.

Finally, Kelly, Sam’s best friend one of the wild ones, played brilliantly by Safia Bartley. Throughout the show, the relationship between Kelly and Samantha is shown to be strong and the real chemistry between Bartley and Gee was a joy to watch, especially through the song Freedom, where they retell the story of one of their many great moments on a road trip together.

The show works well in the intimate space at the Old Joint Stock, it engulfs you in the show allowing the audience to feel like they are part of the action and part of Sam’s memories throughout her story. Directed by Emily Susanne Lloyd, this show cleverly balances the emotionalness of the story with humorous moments that work within the story and don’t feel out of place.

Tom McVeigh’s set is simple, with the main focus being the four seater car, which can move around the space and on a broken mirror on the back wall, which could represent many things throughout the show, even though it is never referenced and it works well alongside Joanne Marshall’s lighting design, who uses areas of light and dark to draw the audience’s eyes around the stage.

The close nature of the space also allows the live band, consisting of musical director Callum Thompson (on Keys), Gilbert Price (Guitar) and Taz Duval (Violin) to flood the room with Lowdermilk and Kerrigan’s melodic music, which balances perfectly alongside the high impact vocals of the cast.

If you enjoy a good story, some great vocals and a great night out, The Mad Ones at The Old Stock Joint in Birmingham is not one to miss. I’m excited to see more at this venue over the upcoming season. The Mad Ones is playing until 20th April 2024.