Despite the popularity of superhero films and comic book
franchises over the last couple of decades, a musical about this 80s
fruit-based hero seems an unlikely choice. Yet here we are with Bananaman The Musical, a love letter to David
Donaldson’s character by Leon Parris, who wrote the book, lyrics and music for
this adaptation.
I confess, I am more aware of the comic and TV show than
familiar with it, it being slightly before
my time. The musical’s faithfulness to the original comics is for another
reviewer.
But this is clearly engineered to be a night of nostalgia,
what with the stage framed by blown up images taken from the Beano comic and TV
theme tunes played as the audience enter. It’s a colourful, chaotic production
filled with British silliness and irreverence. It certainly feels like a comic
strip come to life, its story revolving around teenager Eric Wimp who, after a
freak accident, turns into the titular hero when he eats a banana and is tasked
with thwarting the dastardly plans of dual villains Doctor Gloom and General
Blight. Bananaman himself is a bit of a dunce, with the muscles of twenty men
and the brain of twenty mussels as the comics state, but this provides plenty
of opportunity for comedy in lampooning other heroes who take their power and
responsibility far more seriously.
For the uninitiated, though, the flimsy and inconsequential
plot is stretched paper thin and the jokes eventually become tedious. There are
some modern updates – Fiona, for instance, is now a young journalist permanently attached to her phone – but
Parris seems most concerned with giving it all heart by exploring Eric’s
struggle with the responsibility of power. It becomes more Spiderman than
Superman, when really it’s far more fun to simply watch the klutzy hero. The
narrative is too slight to hold up any thematic depth.
And then the cracks begin to show in the production, with
clunky staging, awkward scene changes and laughable effects. Much of the show’s
humour derives from breaking the fourth wall to poke fun at the production
itself, but it’s ambiguous how much of this is intentional rather than papering
over the cracks, no matter how in-keeping it is with the spirit of irreverence.
Bananaman himself, though, is performed well by Matthew McKenna with the slick
costume to match.
The production isn’t helped by a score that’s lively but
frantic, too often overlaying melodies and harmonies as to make lyrics
incomprehensible. Either that or the songs slow the fast-paced action to a
crawl, without offering anything particularly memorable. There is some fine
singing, however, especially from Emma Ralston as Fiona, but it’s Marc
Pickering’s Doctor Gloom who steals the show, dedicated to the silliness of both
the character and the production with a tongue-in-cheek performance. As a whole
the cast have a lot of fun and their enjoyment is infectious, even if this (literally) bananas show
seems aimed squarely at children of the past.
3/5
Watch: Bananaman The Musical runs at the Southwark Playhouse until 20th January.
Photos: Pamela Raith
