Leatherhead Operatic Society left the audience laughing and cheering with their opening night
production of Little Shop of Horrors at Epsom Playhouse, a musical comedy directed by John
Harries-Rees, choreographed by Louise E Wilson, and musically directed by Sam Fisher, based
on the 1982 off-Broadway musical of the same name.
A failing flower shop on skid-row run by Mr Mushnik (Ben Horsburgh) is almost at the point
of closure due to lack of clientele. A Venus flytrap-looking plant (Toby James) mysteriously
appears during a ‘total eclipse of the sun’, attracting Seymour (Daniel Burns), the floral assistant,
to purchase it and name it after his co-worker love interest, Audrey II (Ellie-Claire King). This
plant, however, is not an ordinary plant—it speaks, sings and lives on human blood and flesh.
But it does bring new customers and, along with that, money and a certain newfound
reputation for the store.
At first, Seymour can sustain Audrey II with his own blood, but this won’t be enough for the
ravenous plant who promises Seymour all of his desires, a potentiality that could be ‘bigger
than hula hoops’. But what is the plant’s goal? This is not the only question of morality that
echoes throughout the performance: how far would you go for love, or fame, or wealth? And
should you feed the sadist-dentist boyfriend of your co-worker love interest to your human-
consuming plant in order to keep it growing and attract customers? The story examines the
lengths to which individuals (Seymour, specifically) will go in order to be successful and fulfil
one’s own desires. The cast’s performance was remarkable, exiting with the audience
questioning what exactly is to be done in Seymour’s situation, with each character producing
an empathetic view of the situation. For those already familiar with the story, a different ending
to the 1986 adaptation of Little Shop of Horrors alongside the stellar performances makes it
worth experiencing for the first time, or again.
The opening night on Wednesday 23rd November was a resounding success, and the show will
continue throughout the rest of the week. The performance will run until the matinée show at
2:30 pm on Saturday 26th November 2022.