This Barrow Arts Theatre Society offering was easily the most high-energy performance I’ve ever seen.

The Wedding Singer follows the trials and tribulations of Robbie Hart, the lead singer in a wedding band whose own love life turns into a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions. Originally written for the 1998 Adam Sandler film of the same name, the story was adapted for stage in 2006 where it has continued to be performed in theatres globally. The cast and crew clearly had an immense amount of fun on this production; performances were all top notch; the music was great and the choreography was excellent. Stand out performances for me were Alex Thompson as Robbie, at times pulling out the most accurate Adam Sandler impression ever (and I mean that in the best way). According to the programme, Alex learned to play guitar for the role, which is impressive by itself. Emma Hollas as the female lead and love interest, Julia, was my favourite vocal performance of the night. George, a character based on the real-life Boy George and played by Marcus Esposito-Edge, was my favourite overall character largely because he was clearly such a blast to play.

The stage direction, costumes and atmosphere were outstanding. A particularly nice touch was to have the audience sit around tables made up like a real wedding. A Pretty Little Wedding, a wedding stylist company, was hired to decorate them which made the experience feel a little more special. The stage direction, as I mentioned was great; one moment in particular I thought was genius. Typically, with stage shows, during a scene change, the lights will dim, and the stagehands will dart about moving everything so as not to break the audience’s engagement as much as possible. There was one exception to this rule in the production but honestly it absolutely had the intended effect. This was the point in the story when Robbie is at his lowest, he’s lying on the floor with his guitar in a bit of a mess, but instead of dropping the lights for the change of scene, he simply wandered from behind the curtain wearing nothing but his shirt and his pants for everyone to see. Naturally the audience loved it, but you could also argue that it added to the sense of humiliation the character feels in that moment, so it worked on a narrative level too.

I always enjoy going to BATS productions and I think we’re so lucky to have a group like this in the area. I’d highly recommend going to see any of their shows. Even if this one had an unexpected amount of underwear and confetti.

Elliot Wilkes