Picture: Mark Senior
Hot Mess continues at Pleasance Two at Pleasance Courtyard until 25 August 2025.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Hot Mess is already one of the hottest tickets in town and it’s easy to see why. A polished, fully theatre ready production that’s funny and challenging in turn.
The premise is that Planet Earth (Danielle Steers) has become jaded with her former ‘partners’ from single-cell amoebas to the wonderfully predatory dinosaurs. Things take an optimistic turn when she accepts the attention from Hu Mankind (Tobias Turley) when he appears on the scene.
As Hu discovers his abilities and builds his ambition to know and do more, Earth becomes increasingly troubled.
Steers has an extraordinary voice – her runs and vibrato in the earlier numbers are thrilling. Think Hamilton meets Six, and as the time progresses her voice matures slightly into a brilliant Cher soundalike. There is talk of an original cast album; it would be a real treat to hear her voice again. She’s a very attractive performer with every look and move having purpose. Great storytelling
Turley really makes the most of his character, starting as the naive, gentle hunter/gatherer, evolving into a farmer who is a partner for Earth and makes time for her. As Hu Mankind matures, his wardrobe becomes steadily darker and his character less interested in nurturing his relationship with Earth. His final scene has him dressed entirely in black, with sharp shoes and glasses, not too unlike Steve Jobs. His singing voice is wonderful and matches really well with Steers’ vocals – some tingling blends to be enjoyed here.
Ellie Coote (book and direction) and Jack Godfrey (music, lyrics and co-orchestrator) have created a highly polished show here, with support from Birmingham Hippodrome’s New Musical Theatre department. If Hot Mess is a hint of what they can nurture, musical theatre fans will be keeping an eye on the project to see what happens next.
Stage setting (Shankho Chaudhuri) and lighting (Ryan Joseph Stafford) are both extremely well done. The curved setting creates a hemisphere playing area that is beautifully exploited by Coote’s direction and Alexzandra Sarmiento’s movement. These details contribute enormously to the general feeling of quality that Hot Mess delivers.
Congratulations to all involved!
Fiona Orr