EDINBURGH 2016 - Review: OUR HOUSE, Paradise in Augustines, 15 August

Our House is a jukebox musical based on the hits of Madness. On the night of his 16th birthday, Camden lad Joe Casey breaks into a block of flats with his girlfriend. When the police arrive on the scene, the narrative splits, in the style of Sliding Doors, between the Joe that ran from the police and the Joe that stayed to face the music, before the two plots eventually converge in a dramatic finale. The score features a host of recognisable Madness hits, though the band's discography does not seem to have a truly adequate emotional range for a musical with much depth.

That said, the main struggle with the material is that it is difficult to find any truly sympathetic characters to root for or care about. With a cast of characters made up largely of chavvy boys and scantily clad schoolgirls, with exaggerated cockney accents grating on the ears after a short time, it feels more like a depiction of a "School Disco" night at a Student Union.

The cast of this production from the University of Chichester Graduate Company work very hard throughout, pouring energy into well choreographed dance routines. They zip on and off stage, with each performer having a huge number of costume changes, and most of the cast playing several characters.

Unfortunately, there were a string of production issues that continued throughout the performance. It was frequently difficult, despite microphones, to hear the performers over the band. The microphones do however pick up a number of backstage conversations, and cast and crew were often visible lurking backstage, even from halfway up the raked seating. In addition to it being difficult to hear many lyrics, on several occasions actors failed to find their light on stage, and there were a number of missed cues and costume malfunctions.

It is to be hoped that, as this was the first performance in Edinburgh, a number of these kinks would be ironed out, but the impression of tonight's performance was that of a first technical rehearsal rather than an opening night. Unfortunately, based on this performance, Our House is not a House of Fun.

Our House is at Paradise in Augustines until August 20 at 20:05.

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