We Will Rock You

This rock musical, as written by Ben Elton, is set in the distant future where everybody thinks, acts and dresses the same, under the control of Killer Queen. Musical instruments and composers are forbidden and rock music is all but unknown. A group of Bohemians, who meet at The Hard Rock Café, struggle to restore the free exchange of thought, fashion and live music. Galileo, with his flashes of dreams, and his friend, whom he calls Scaramouche, lead us on the road of discovery. That road is mainly through the music of Queen - and what a great musical way to travel.

Director Madeleine Johns has devised an interesting staging to highlight the music with a basically bare stage with steps to the upper acting area and a large screen on which to show locations and groups. It works. All movement and the full use of the acting area were very good. Naomi Drogemuller, as Killer Queen, was a consistently nasty piece of goods in appearance and acting, together with a very good singing voice. Her underling, Khashoggi, was well played by Richard Rubendra. The main characters, Galileo and Scaramouche, were played by Timothy Kennedy and Kaley Jones. They both sang clearly but, at times, more emotional inter-play would help the dream of the music.

The Bohemians, Yuppies and Gaga Kids all moved well and added strength to the production. In that group, I must mention John Chant as the kilt wearing  Britney at The Hard Rock Café. I should mention that the Bohemians had taken the names of past rock singers – hence Britney. Tiffany Payne as Oz helped spread the bohemian dreams. The sound at times went astray but it worked quite well in RMT’s Theatre 102, where the audience was close to the action and could become involved in the excellent music.

If you are a fan of the music of Queen, and who isn’t, this production is well worthy of a visit.

William Davies