Shaun Kitchener Archives - North West End UK

Here and Now: The Steps Musical – Edinburgh Playhouse

26Feb

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Here and Now: The Steps Musical – Edinburgh Playhouse

If you’ve ever wanted to experience a fever-dream in real time, Here and Now: The Steps Musical is the show for you. This brand new jukebox musical, written by Shaun Kitchener in association with Steps, is utterly ridiculous. At first that might feel like a negative, but the further the show goes on, the more Here and Now sweeps you into the madness and by the end you’ll be belting out tragedy in the megamix. Its self-aware silliness can’t be denied, and with all of the Steps’ classic hits, it’s hard to resist the “Summer of Love” - I for one, had the time of my life. Set in the Best Better Bargains supermarket, we see four core cashiers make a pact that this is the Summer they get their love lives together. As they attempt to make their moves, we come to find ou...

Here & Now The Steps Musical – Opera House

Here’s the thing, some people like Marmite, and some don’t. I always add it to my gravy and most people don’t mind. The music of Steps can be equally divisive some people like it, some don’t, but when you add it to a piece of musical theatre, well most people, on the evidence of the Opera House audience love it! But let’s dig a little deeper than the whooping, cheering and joining in that I witnessed on press night. First of all, you hire a critically acclaimed writer such as Shaun Kitchener to pen a story into which you can fit the songs of a 1990’s pop group. That’s not so easy. Many “catalogue” musicals fit the story round the songs. On the evidence of “Here and Now – the Steps musical”, the songs fit around the story and that is one of the strengths of this show. The songs adv...

All That – King’s Head Theatre

All That is a deliciously funny and heart-warming take on how convoluted modern relationships can get when their very foundation is threatened. Written by Shaun Kitchener (Hollyoaks, Positive) and directed by James Callàs Ball, this production at the King’s Head Theatre, staged as part of their popular Queer Season, is a delightful watch. Through the lives of four housemates – two couples with wildly different outlooks on life – we witness a hilarious evening of misunderstandings, confessions and secrets unfurl as they try to salvage the lives they’ve built together. The show additionally explores themes of love, sex, monogamy and the fallacy of the “right” way for LGBTQ+ couples to manifest their relationships in the public eye. At the centre of the drama is a decision made by suburban...