Review: Hot Mess (Southwark Playhouse Elephant)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️⭐️

When it comes to love stories playing out on stage, there is no shortage of contenders for the all time greats. There's Romeo & Juliet, Glinda & Fiyero, Elphaba & Fiyero, Glinda & Elphaba and John Valjean & a loaf of bread to name but a few. Now Hot Mess aims to give audiences new contenders to the throne. Well, not so new - this is a love story millions of years in the making. Yes, it's Earth and Humanity who are finally getting it together after a few thousand millennia of playing hard to get. Will their love survive even the harshest of climates, or would it reach a point of no return?

Having wowed critics and audiences at its world premiere at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe where it scooped five major awards, Hot Mess makes its London debut for a limited run at Southwark Playhouse Elephant. It is centred around the relationship between Earth and Humanity… but not the relationship you might think. After a billion years of bad dates including a tragic end to her love affair with the dinosaurs (I won’t spoil what happens), Earth falls in love with Humanity. After all, opposable thumbs are hard to resist! As time progresses and technology flourishes, their passionate love affair suddenly runs the risk of running out of fuel, as the heat between them warms up to reach the self-described hot mess.

It is a clever and innovative idea, using the idea of Humanity’s relationship with Earth as if they were two people entering the throes of dating, and it has its moments of brilliance, Reuniting Jack Godfrey and Ellie Coote, the team who brought us the incredible 42 Balloons, Hot Mess is another fine example of their undeniable talents, with plenty of jokes, metaphors, innuendo, clever comparisons and an abundance of puns filling the story in a way that had me enthralled in the first 10 minutes of the musical and riotously laughing.

However, Hot Mess started to get a bit repetitive with an overuse of some of the jokes and metaphors, so that they were less funny the second, third and fourth time around. It felt a little bit chaotic at times, but then that does feel quite representative of both relationships and the specific relationship between Earth and Humanity so I can’t argue that wasn’t fitting at least. Some of the jokes failed to land and even though this was a speedy 65 minutes, the pacing didn’t feel quite where it needed to be.

The music and tone of the show feels very reminiscent of SIX, repeating their winning formula of empowering anthems that put a refreshing twist on a subject rooted in history (the entirety of history, in this case). There is a smattering of seriously good songs to be found in Hot Mess, as you would expect from somebody as talented as Jack Godfrey. Unfortunately, not all of the songs reach his usual standard and there are some seriously clunky lyrics and jarring rhymes peppered throughout (rhyming “happen” with “crap then” stood out to me). 

Though this is a comedy, there is a serious message to be found in the midst of all the metaphors, with Hot Mess attempting to remind us on the climate crisis and how humanity might take the Earth for granted, to the extent that one day it might become inhabitable for us - in that respect, don’t be surprised if we too get dumped by this planet. Bursting from the New Musical Theatre Department at Birmingham Hippodrome, Hot Mess is a great example of the appetite audiences have for new, original and innovative musicals. 

The right space is important for a musical, and as much as I love Southwark Playhouse Elephant, I’m not entirely convinced this was the best fit for this show. The relatively small stage didn’t make use of the space around it, causing poor sightlines (a recurring issue I’m finding with shows in this space) and lessening the impact this show has. I imagine it worked a lot better when it was in Edinburgh, and imagine it would have sat in the other Southwark Playhouse venue with a lot more ease than it did in Elephant.

There is one huge strength in Hot Mess - technically two, and that is its amazing cast. Danielle Steers and Tobias Turley are two incredible talents, and seeing them on stage together in this playful production was a real treat. Danielle Steers oozes star quality in her role as Earth, following her standout roles in The Cher Show and Bat Out Of Hell by once again proving what a force to be reckoned with as a performer. She may be playing one of the biggest roles there is - after all, does it get bigger than Earth (apart from the four planets in our solar system that are, of course), but she manages to fill the role beautifully. Her powerhouse vocals are put to great use in numbers ‘The Next Big Thing’ and a standout moment in the anthemic 'My House’, slightly reminiscent of ‘I Don’t Need Your Love’ from SIX, coincidentally a number Steers herself performed during her time in the show.

Tobias Turley similarly thrills as he takes on all of humanity with his effervescence and charm. Even when he becomes a bit of a player, it is impossible not to love Turley with his cheeky and charismatic portrayal of the role. Lighting up the stage with every appearance, he too gets moments to showcase his sensational vocals, and has perhaps the biggest earworm musical number of the show with ‘Tomorrow’, though the jury is still out on whether that number is addictive or annoying. Together, Turley and Steers display a winning chemistry that has you rooting for this long overdue yet ultimately doomed relationship. It is clear they are both having fun in the show, and that proved infectious when it came to my own enjoyment, helping to gloss over some of the moments that didn’t quite connect with me.

Though it’s far from perfect, Hot Mess is far from a hot mess in itself. Bearing in mind that this is still relatively early days in this musical’s life cycle, the huge potential it has is clear to see. With a concept as clever as this, it just needs to work on its own creativity a bit more so it can find its own path, though I’m sure it will continue to evolve in the months and years to come, getting even better with time. I left the theatre not feeling as if it was past the point of no return so this is in no way a permanent break up between me and this show, and I’m sure I’ll give it another chance sooner rather than later.

Hot Mess plays at Southwark Playhouse Elephant until 8th November. Tickets from https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/hot-mess/ 

Photos by Helen Murray