REVIEW: KINKY BOOTS @ THEATRE ROYAL PLYMOUTH

🎭 Kinky Boots

📍 The Lyric, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Royal Parade, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 2TR 

🗓 Tuesday 22nd April 2025

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JOYOUS AND DAZZLING

KINKY BOOTS has strutted onto the stage at Theatre Royal Plymouth this week and is a high-energy romp with some outstanding performances. With the current political climate, the message of accepting others for who they are has even more gravitas than before and the production makes no apologies for this.

Based on a true story, the musical version of KINKY BOOTS stays relatively close to the movie version and is utterly enjoyable, but just misses the mark on delivering the complete wow factor. Part of this was because I found the opening sequences of both acts to be quite slow and even for someone like me who absolutely loves musical theatre, it felt like act 1 had a section where there were too many songs. I would have preferred more storytelling outside of the songs if I'm completely honest. That being said, most of the songs were wonderfully written and gloriously performed.

Having seen Dan Partridge in other productions I knew he was a consummate performer, but as Charlie Price he is an absolute sensation. He portrays the character with such believability that even in his more unlikeable moments you still care about him. His vocals are a pure joy to listen too and are beautifully warming. He really puts emotion into his performance and the way he captivated the audience with his rendition of 'Soul of a Man' was breathtaking and was one of the standout moments of the entire production.

Another joyous performance came from Courtney Bowman who is a real superstar. Her vocals during 'The History of Wrong Guys' flew higher into the stratosphere than Katy Perry on the Blue Origin! She delivered humour with perfect timing whilst also being graceful and exuberant. I wanted to see more of her.

I'm never a fan of what is deemed to be 'stunt casting' and I admit that I was rather worried about Johannes Radebe in the role of Lola. I am also happy to admit that I was wrong to be worried and he was in fact brilliant. His personality is perfect for the role and of course his dancing was superb. I would have liked perhaps a bit more depth to the character and one song was possibly too big for him, but overall his performance was extremely high-energy and enjoyable.

Other notable performances came from Scott Paige who was fantastically funny and Joe Caffrey who, as Don, goes on a journey of acceptance which felt like a real teaching moment. The Angels were wonderfully camp and fabulous and the ensemble as an entirety performed amazingly.

Visually KINKY BOOTS is dazzling. On first look the set looked great but I couldn't help feeling that it was somewhat restrictive. It seemed to push a lot of the action to the back of the stage and the stairs which led to the top platform were not fully visible which meant there were times when characters disappeared from view whilst talking which made no sense to be.

Despite a few negatives, there's no denying how much I loved this show and I definitely want to see it again. There's a definite feel-good factor during the finale and the show's message comes across loud and clear. The pride flag placed on the catwalk as the company left the stage felt extremely poignant.

If you want a few hours of joyful escapism then KINKY BOOTS is the show for you. It is playing at Theatre Royal Plymouth until Saturday 26th April. Click here to secure your tickets.

Neill Kovacic-Clarke

All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one person.

My ticket for this performance of Kinky Boots was gifted by Theatre Royal Plymouth who invited me to watch the show in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given.

CAST AT THIS PERFORMANCE:

Dan Partridge as Charlie Price; Johannes Radebe as Lola; Courtney Bowman as Lauren; Kara Lily Hayworth as Nicola; Joe Caffrey as Don; Kathryn Barnes as Pat; Lucy Williamson as Trish; Jonathan Dryden Taylor as Mr Price / Angel; Scott Paige as George; Liam Doyle as Harry; Kofi Dennis as Ensemble / Angel; Ru Fisher as Ensemble / Angel; Liam McEvoy as Ensemble / Angel; Ben Middleton as Ensemble / Angel; Ashley-Jordon Packer as Ensemble / Angel; Jordan Isaac as Ensemble / Angel; Cerys Burton as Ensemble; Kaya Farrugia as Ensemble; Cole Dunn as On Stage Swing; Deena Kapadia as On Stage Swing; Tori McDougall as Off Stage Swing; Joshua Beswick as Young Charlie; Lawrence Ndola-Myers as Young Lola

RUNNING TIME (approx):

2 hours 20 minutes, including interval

AGE GUIDELINE:

10+