AD: Press invite for an honest review.
Show content warnings: substance abuse, miscarriage, homophobia and sexual harassment.
We’re big fans of new musical theatre here at Overstudies, and love getting the opportunity to see new works at all stages of their development. The MT Pride Lab, now drawing to a close at the iconic Kings Head Theatre, has given us many opportunities to get a taste of some new and unique work celebrating the future of musical theatre.
Rockstar is one of a number of shows that we’ve had the opportunity to watch this season, taking over the intimate theatre space in Islington until 15 July. Written and directed by Olly Medlicott, the cast is made up of Medlicott himself, Charlie Purbrook, Emily Sawtell and Will Mugford.
The show is a story of the trials and tribulations of fame and the pursuit of success; a commentary on the sacrifices that people are willing to make to achieve their goals. We first meet our characters Jack, Billy and Mara in the middle of their journey, a trio in a band who are hurtling towards success. The biggest narrative focus point is the love triangle relationship between the three lead characters, and ultimately how this impacts the band for better and for worse. Playing around with form, we begin in the middle of the journey before being thrown right back to the start to see how everything began.
Overall, I see the vision of the show and I can picture the fanbase that could grow out of this story. In a time where analysis of the journey to fame is a hot topic (think Daisy Jones and the Six) there definitely seems to be an untapped space for this kind of story. It’s also no easy feat writing music for a show that needs to feel like a musical theatre piece but also like a rock concert at the same time, and there are some stand out numbers (a song seemingly named Devils Bargain was a particular highlight for me) that really do well at capturing the essence of the piece. It’s clear to see the influences in musical style being drawn from the likes of Queen and The Killers, and I can imagine that with a full band they could sound quite spectacular.
Where the show lets itself down, however, is by trying to do too much in a short space of time. The overall narrative of the show felt rushed and disjointed, with not enough time focused on each of many plot twists for us to really care about how they were impacting the characters. I’m unsure if this was a constraint on the space and run times allowed, but I think the show could either benefit from condensing the story or having more time to explore the topics it covers.
This ambition to do a lot in a short space of time also unfortunately impacts the character development. The show weakens itself by leaving the sexuality of the lead character intentionally vague. We are quickly brought up to speed that Jack is attracted to more than one gender, but this never seems to be addressed in a positive way. Instead, it comes across as a problem that needs to be overcome throughout the whole piece, which did not quite sit right with me. In a world where men who are attracted to multiple genders are often neglected from popular media or represented in a negative light, I would have liked to see less criticism of his character and more depth to the relationships themselves so that I could root for one pairing or the other. Instead, the lack of insight into Jack’s psyche leaves him feeling like the villain of the show – whether intentional or not.
My final disappointment is less with the show itself and more so with the lack of content warnings in place both online when booking the show and in the theatre itself. Understandably with short runs and workshop performances, these things can get missed. However, when a show features homophobia, a miscarriage, sexual harassment, and an overdose, I do think these things are crucial to be highlighted for the enjoyment of all audience members prior to going into the theatre.
All of this isn’t to say that there isn’t potential from this show. With a richer sound (maybe a few live instruments in keeping with the theme of the show) and a stronger understanding of the motivations of its characters, I can see this becoming something quite exciting to watch. It is by no means a bad show, it just needs further room to grow and truly decide what it’s trying to be.
Rockstar is running at the Kings Head Theatre in Islington until 15 July 2023, with more workshop performances expected soon. More information and a number of cast recording performances can be found on omedlicott.wixsite.com/website/rockstar
Tickets are available for remaining performances from: https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/rockstar
