Hot Mess
Rating: ★★★★
Venue: The Other Palace, London

After a billion years of bad dates, Earth has finally found the one: Hu-manity. Sparks fly. Seeds are sown. Ground is broken. But what starts as a passionate love affair between the universe’s most iconic couple soon spirals into a spectacularly messy breakup.

From the creators of 42 Balloons, Jack Godfrey and Ellie Coote, comes a brand-new British musical packed with original pop songs, charting the rise and fall of the greatest love story ever told.

A piping hot new musical launches into The Other Palace, just in time for the summer heatwave!

Following successful runs at both Edinburgh Fringe and then London's Southwark Playhouse, this updated and extended version of Hot Mess shows just how important work about climate change really is.

After his previous production ‘Babies’ very quickly gained a loyal fan base, Jack Godfrey’s Hot Mess is set to follow in its stride - with many audiences already on their third visit across as many venues.

Shankho Chaudhuri’s beautiful set does not move or change at all, but the prop heavy track keeps things new and fresh; as always, a shout out to the stage management team and the duo on stage for keeping on top of so much!

The lighting design by Ryan Joseph Stafford was simple but very effective, with one small hitch which the technicians fixed subtly without the need for a show stop at all.

Hot Mess is a perfect example of why intimacy coordinators are so important. Every steamy scene was smooth and seamless thanks to Lex Kaby’s direction, and the chemistry was clear even from halfway back in the auditorium. The energy between the actors flowed flawlessly, and it is obvious they felt safe in each other's hands (quite literally). Much of this credit must also go to choreographer Alexzandra Sarmiento who made both performers look HOT throughout, in every sense of the word.

Danielle Steers exuded confidence and sexuality, while Morgan Gregory was playful and forthcoming. This match worked well, however it did sometimes feel like they were missing another actor. Two-handers are hard to balance because your protagonists, villains, love interests, and comic reliefs are all actually the same person. For the first hour of this show it really wasn't a problem, but towards the end it started to feel like it just needed something else. It's interesting to see that an additional character ‘moon’ was included in previous iterations of the show.

The same can be said for the songs. The lyrics carry well, but offer a very similar vibe to lots of other contemporary musicals with only really the subject matter to set them apart. The score felt similar every time they started to sing, and upon leaving the theatre I think I could only name maybe half of the 14 numbers. Many were too long, and having one approximately every five minutes felt slightly crammed and unnecessary. 

The Other Palace website advises an age rating of 12+ which seems perfectly placed, and there really is enjoyable content for every demographic upwards of that. While this may not be top newcomer of the year, it's definitely worth a watch. And at only 85 minutes straight through, you've got no excuse to miss it!