Review: Shear Madness (The Mill at Sonning)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If there’s one staple at The Mill at Sonning each year, it is a good comedy. Whether it is a classic, a rarely seen oldie or even something brand new, at least one production every season is designed to have audiences rolling in the aisles (not literally due to health and safety concerns, however). Their latest offering is a global sensation that holds the title of the longest-running play in US history, with a new production of Shear Madness. But would Sonning’s take on the story be a cut above the rest?

First performed in 1963, Shear Madness is best associated with its Boston run beginning in 1980 for a planned 8-week run and lasting for a grand total of 40 years, only closing due to losses caused by COVID. The story is set inside a hair salon, fittingly named “Shear Madness”, where eccentric clients and questionable employees enjoy colourful banter on a day that is seemingly like no other. When the talk starts to turn to the woman living over the salon, it turns out she won’t be living there for much longer… or living at all. After being found dead, it becomes clear the murderer is one of the people in the salon - with each having a motive for carrying out the grisly deed, the age-old question is asked - whodunnit?

If that sounds like something you would have seen a thousand times before, there is one unique twist to Shear Madness - it is immersive! No, wait. Come back! While the two hapless police officers lead the charge on stage, the audience acts as detectives. With the lights turned on, the cast recreates the events of that day, with the audience encouraged to call out anything that doesn’t seem accurate, requiring a great memory and attention to detail. It can be every bit as chaotic as it sounds, and that is all part of the fun. The most enjoyable part, however, comes after the interval as the audience gets to ask the suspects questions and vote for who they believe the murderer is before finding out if they got it right.

The production becomes a mixture of clever and silly at the same time, with The Mill at Sonning’s Artistic Director Sally Hughes stepping into the director’s shoes for this production to give it a distinct Sonning flair while maximising the fun found in the story. It is no easy feat given the uncertainty of what is going to happen. Nobody knows what questions the audience is going to ask, demanding a cast who can think on their feet and pull from a rich knowledge of what might have happened. With any number of possibilities and different endings, it is an impressive undertaking that effortlessly merges two separate styles of show together  -a conventional play and an interactive, immersive Q&A.

I won’t spoil who the killer is, as it may not be the same as the one you see on your visit. The unpredictability of it adds to the charm, with the cast themselves not knowing which of them has blood on their hands until the end of the play. The audience is in the driver's seat, and it is down to the questions they ask, the revelations that come out from those questions and if they have picked up on all of the details and clues to be found that determine who has the most guilt out of the multiple suspects. There is slightly more to it as well, but I won’t spoil it for you.

Originally written by Paul Portner, the essence of Shear Madness is still there in the story. However, the actual writing has been updated to make it distinct for this production. As is the case with every production of the show, dialogue is frequently updated to include modern references and nods to local areas. As well as references to Sonning and nearby areas, we are treated to references to the World Cup and Taylor Swift’s wedding, as well as Harry Styles (not linked to the wedding) and Nigel Farage (certainly not in attendance), to name but a few. The references lead to some wonderful laughs, although certain lines in the play do run the risk of falling flat, with a couple of cringeworthy moments.

Shear Madness is a joy to watch thanks in part to Alex Marker’s fabulously over-the-top set design. Bursting with colour, walking into the theatre felt like walking into Barbie’s hair salon with all of its bold pinks, purples and greens creating a bold and vivid design. Another great touch was the inclusion of some of these bright colours in some of the gorgeous costume designs from Natalie Titchener, beautifully complementing the setting.

It is one thing to rehearse so that you know all of your lines and never miss a beat. It is quite another to go into a show never quite knowing what is going to be asked of you and how you are going to answer. The ability to think on your feet isn’t just admirable; it is awe-inspiring, and this cast of six never missed a beat with their rapid responses, quick wit and general comedic turn. Whether it was admonishing an audience member for a particularly stupid question or commenting on the overzealous nature of another, if each of them demonstrated their strengths as actors, it was their ability to improvise that took their performances to the next level.

At the heart of that is Paul O’Neill as Nick O’Brien, one of the two police officers trying to get to the bottom of the murder. Leading the charge, O’Neill is the one who holds it all together, both pushing the narrative along and acting as the chair when it comes to taking questions from the audience. His co-conspirator is Gwithian Evans as Mike Thomas, a seemingly younger and greener police officer who, one audience member commented, seemed to be more competent. At times, Evans performed as if he were a character in The Play That Goes Wrong, but that added to the charm of it and worked in the setting of Shear Madness.

Rosaleen Burton delivers a fun, no-nonsense approach as Barbara McMarley, with Natalie Ogle having more than a touch of Felicity Kendal in Anything Goes about her in a particular standout performance - wonderfully over-the-top and brilliantly camp, both women deliver stunning turns. Jonathan Markwood opted for a fairly understated approach as Edward Lawrence, sometimes feeling eclipsed by the wider choices of his co-stars, while Daniel Cane delivered the complete opposite as larger-than-life hairdresser Tony Whitcomb, delivering some of the funniest moments of the play and being one of the two biggest scene-stealers, along with Ogle’s Mrs Shubert.

No The Mill at Sonning review would be complete without talking about the overall experience there. While you can now just buy tickets to the show, the heart of the experience is a signature ticket that includes a two-course meal (now with a third course at an extra charge). The meal there has upped in quality since they moved from a buffet experience to table service, and it has been upped once again with a new team providing by far the most gorgeous meal I’ve ever had there. Complete with its picturesque setting that is especially beautiful on a nice, warm day and its unrivalled welcoming experience, there is a reason why I always look forward to my regular trips to The Mill at Sonning, and I encourage everyone to make the short trip out of London there (it’s a short car ride from Reading station) to experience it for themselves.

Shear Madness is a show as I have never seen before, merging the two worlds of standard whodunnit with interactive audience elements. Perhaps the join between both these different styles isn’t as clean as it could be, and some aspects proved more enjoyable than others, but overall it was a watch that was bursting with fun. It may not be fair to say it is technically a cut above the rest, but it only misses that honour by a hair, with the result being a show that can only be described as sheer joy.

Shear Madness plays at The Mill at Sonning until 15th August. Tickets from https://millatsonning.com/Events/shear-madness/

Photos by Pamela Raith