Unfortunate - The Untold Story of Ursula The Sea Witch: Review

Sex, Sorcery, and Suckers… The tagline promises exactly what ‘Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the sea witch’ delivers. The production offers crude jokes, amateur charm, and a proper parody that pokes fun at all those clichés in your typical musicals, which is exactly what you would expect from a show that got its start at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Director Robyn Grant and writer Daniel Foxx give us a brand-new perspective on a story so many of us know. The panto-like play offers a new perspective on the villainous Ursula portrayed in Disney’s classic ‘The Little Mermaid’. For those, like me, who grew up on the classic, this stage adaptation brings childhood memories flooding back with a bit of naughty humour thrown into the mix to keep you laughing all night- it was the perfect blend of farce and talent. The hilarious take on the hit ‘Kiss the Girl’ changed to ‘Ask the Girl’ on the premise of needing more consent in today’s world, had the whole audience (and myself) in uproar.

Unfortunate - Photo Credit Pamela Raith Photography — Unfortunate – Photo Credit Pamela Raith Photography

The musical doesn’t shy away from being topical, adding real-time references from current news stories to iconic cultural pop moments, making it particularly relevant for today’s audience. Amongst the corny innuendos, farsical singing, and the campest jokes ever, there are real core messages about empowerment and being unapologetically yourself because you really are that ‘witch’.

It was refreshing to see this antagonist so proud of her own skin and reclaiming a decades-old narrative that she was nothing more than an evil sea witch bent on destruction. Ursula is that, but she’s also so much more, and despite being a fantasy set at the bottom of the ocean it still managed to remain convincing. Ariel’s storyline was also adapted and she too, was able to flip the script. From this, Ariel had a newfound sense of being a human. I mean why else would Ariel want to be a human and explore the world and all the wonders and men that are out there? You’ll have to watch to find out which part excited her the most!

From all my years of being traumatised and terrified of Ursula as a child, I never thought I would end up feeling sorry for her, but I walked away with a very different opinion of her. I now know that this eight-legged villainous sea witch is a misunderstood feminist icon. This show makes it clear that she had just been painted in an ‘unfortunate’ light.

The headliners of the cast, Shawna Hamic (Ursula) and River Medway (Ariel) were stellar and made the musical for me, with their clever comedic timing and innuendos; their delivery was close to perfection. The cast was small with only nine on stage, one down from the usual ten, but they all took on multiple roles throughout the musical, which was a little overwhelming at first but became easy once you let them sweep you up for the ride.

If you love a bit of adult panto-like humour paired with all the glitz, glamour and campness to last you a lifetime, then this is the show for you.