Review: UNFORTUNATE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF URSULA THE SEA WITCH, Southwark Playhouse Elephant

Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch, written by Robyn Grant and Daniel Foxx with music by Tim Gilvin, tells the “true” story of Ursula, starting from her childhood and ending with what happens after The Little Mermaid (both 1989 and 2023).

Ursula Squirt (Shawna Hamic) grows up an outcast, being bullied for her mother being a cleaner and having to hide her dark magic from the world. We are introduced to the world of Atlantica, or as Ursula describes, it, “The happy intersection between the Barbie movie and the Hitler Youth.” Things begin to change, however, when Ursula meets Prince Triton (Thomas Lowe), and the “two lost souls with lesbian haircuts” begin to go down the classic path of enemies to lovers. 

Straight from the beginning, Unfortunate establishes that it is nothing like its source material of the Disney movies - it changes the fact that Ursula and Triton are siblings, which makes sense for the new romantic plot. As well as plot changes, the show certainly removes the “family-friendly” aspect of The Little Mermaid, throwing in swear words and sexual innuendos galore.

If you’re familiar with Starkid’s Twisted, which tells the “true” story of Jafar from Aladdin, you’ll find many similarities in Unfortunate. King Neptune, Prince Triton’s father, is nearly identical to Nick Gage’s Sultan character, portraying a weird old man who has strange sexual desires. There were quite a few times when I was watching and couldn’t help but think of how Twisted had used the concept of telling the backstory of a villain but portraying them as a hero in a much more effective way. 

Hamic is brilliant as Ursula, belting out fantastic songs like “Unfortunate” and “Female Role Models” with ease. She is clearly the one in charge of the show, portrayed as the only intelligent person in a world of idiots, both under the sea and on the land. Hamic does a lovely job breaking the fourth wall, narrating Ursula’s story in between flashback scenes.

Lowe does a great job as Triton, portraying him as a merman torn between choosing the woman he loves and sticking to his father’s principles of being a strong man.

Both Ariel (River Meday) and Prince Eric (Jamie Mawson) are played as absolute idiots to great success. Our introduction to Ariel is her finding a range of human objects including an issue of Cosmopolitan, a tampon and a grenade (a “dinglehopper”) that leads to the quick and tragic demise of Flounder. It is also heavily implied that she is responsible for the OceanGate tragedy. Meday is hilarious as Ariel, easily portraying her as a basic girl who doesn’t care about responsibilities and only wants to become human to get a man.

Eric, called a “braindead himbo,” is a 36-year-old man who thinks the earth is flat and simply wants to sing and dance. Mawson is an absolute delight as Eric, constantly calling Ariel “Speechless Woman” and frequently nearly falling off the ship when out on the water. 

Allie Dart quite nearly steals the show as not only Sebastian but Colette the chef as well (yes, the same chef from Ratatouille - just go with it). Colette takes on a more important role than the chef in the original, supporting Ariel and encouraging her to stand up for herself. One song, “Les Poissons,” requires Dart to be switching back and forth between Sebastian and Colette, which she does fantastically and to loud applause.

The choreography by Melody Sinclair gives everyone a chance to shine while also using the energetic ensemble as effectively as possible, having them dance around while puppeteering and acting. 

Unfortunately for Unfortunate, it has its funny moments, but they tend to get lost within the show, which has lengthened its runtime since the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I did not see the shorter versions but can imagine that the power ballads and jokes were much more effective, as the show does not need as much exposition and storytelling as it has in its current version. 

The main issues with Unfortunate, however, is the vulgar moments and pop culture references are thrown in with no real impact, leading to many awkward pauses. A lot of moments are used for shock value, particularly those involving Ariel and her desire to have sex with a human man. Yes, it is funny at first to hear the “little mermaid” making penis-related jokes, but it does get old after thirty minutes. 

There were also sound issues on the night. When everyone was singing together and the music was blasting, it was nearly impossible to hear the leads, let alone understand any of the lyrics.

Abby Clarke has done a fantastic job designing not only the set but the costumes and puppets as well,  especially the anglerfish and hammerhead shark. While the set, made to look like a ship with tentacles surrounding it, is quite interesting, the circular door in the centre caused quite a few issues when trying to get set pieces through it. Audience members sitting on the side tend to miss moments as they are blocked by set pieces or were made to be seen from the centre. 

Ultimately, Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch has some fun moments, fantastic performers and great puppets, but it struggles to stretch what was once an 80-minute musical into one over 2 ½ hours. The show tries to be both vulgar and motivational, which makes it feel like two shows that have been pushed together. With quite a few cuts and more purposeful jokes, Unfortunate could truly be something audiences are fortunate enough to see. 

Read our interview with Shawna Hamic on the show here.

Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch runs until  17 February 2024 at Southwark Playhouse Elephant. 

Photo Credit: Pamela Raith

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