Presented by: Pelican Productions
Reviewed: 12 September 2024
Pelican Productions have once again showcased the incredible, rising talents within South Australia’s youth theatre, this time with Heathers – The Musical.
The musical is based on the 1980s cult movie hit of the same name, which starred Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, and Shannen Doherty.
To keep with the same premise as the movie, Heathers – The Musical follows the diary entries and point of view of Veronica (Sammi Keough), a high school misfit who has a talent for forgeries and desire to survive high school unscathed.
The titular queens of the school Heather Chandler (Tayla Prime), Heather Duke (Caitlin Laventure), and Heather McNamara (Lily Horton-Stewart) dominate the school and make life insufferable for those perceived below them. Veronica uses her forgery skills to be befriended by the Heathers, fully aware of their toxicity but the teen eagerness to be accepted takes lead.
All seems satisfactory until the arrival of dark and brooding JD (Teagan Garvey) gets Veronica’s attention after a fight with jocks Kurt (Zach Bartlett) and Ram (Freddie Windle). Betrayals, love affairs, and parties follow during which Veronica and JD accidentally make suicide fashionable. Drama ensues as they all struggle to make sense of their situations and find resolutions fitting their individual egos and ethics.
There is quality staging and production to this take on Heathers. Pelican Productions, the cast, and team elevate all the elements they have available to them to create a professional show from emerging and amateur theatre.
There were a couple nervous starts to the show that smoothed over quickly once the show’s rhythm picked up. The cast were excellent in their expressive acting and in their emphasis of the dark comedic moments, which are a key mark to hit to stay true to the source material. Heathers does contain heavy themes and it’s the comedic nods that contrast the darkness and emphasise the humanity behind the characters.
Their dancing and transitions were another highlight from the cast on the whole. It was a polished and uniform presentation in which cast members maintained the characteristics of their 1980s high school trope personas, such as the goth girl, dorks and nerd, and young republicanette.
The show has many moments for individual cast members to shine. A standout from the solos was from Veronica’s long-time and then ditched friend Martha (Darcie Yelland). Yelland presented a captivating and genuine rendition of Kindergarten Boyfriend.
The casts for Pelican Productions alternate between shows and have the lists available on their website. The team would surely be proud again of this year’s production with the cast adeptly taking on such a mature show.
Heathers – The Musical is directed by Georgia Broomhall, musical direction by Ben Francis, and choreography by Shenayde Patterson. Again, the show remains true to the source material and therefore contains heavy themes including suicide, homophobia, violent bullying, gun violence, and sexual content.
Reviewed by Alex Dunkin
Photo credit: supplied
Venue: The Arts Theatre
Season: 12-15 September 2024
Duration: 2hr 45mins including interval
Tickets: $36 – $47
Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1247952
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