Music: Alex Silverman

Book: Louise Rennison

Director: Ryan McBryde

Reviewer: Tiffany Shepherd

The Public Reviews Rating:

It was a traumatic decision. Who would she go for? ‘Sex God’ Robbie, or ‘Love God’ Massimo? But if you think that you could deal with this gut wrenching choice along with some witty one-liners, plenty of crude jokes and a whole host of abbreviations, then ‘Angus, Thongs & even more snogging’ is the right show for you.

Inspired by the popular teenage books by Louise Rennison, this stage adaption invites you as an honorary chum or chummette into the stressful world of Georgia Nicholson and reminds us that you can’t get any worse than the tragedies of school life, the complications of snogging, the complexities of boys and downright embarrassment of parents. They had gone all out on this film-like performance with clever use of dynamic staging to the disco atmosphere they promoted and maintained throughout the entire show. The energy of the cast was infectious and coupled with faultless and frankly hilarious acting, particular from the likes of Margaret Cabourn-Smith (playing Mutti, Miss Wilson and the DJ), it didn’t matter what age you were, you ended up laughing.

It was a nice touch that members of the ‘coolest band in school’ the ‘Stiff Dylans’ used their musical talents throughout the show as background music and the puppetry of Angus the cat and Georgia’s little sister Libby, gave an added creativity to the show while showing us that none of the cast took themselves too seriously in this light-hearted adaption

The trials of a teenage girl may not immediately appeal to all, but I have to confess that there were more adults laughing in that theatre than anyone else. Everyone can relate to the soul-destroying anguish of the parents meeting the boyfriend and, let’s face it, no one ever stops finding crude teenage innuendos funny. Looking through their write ups, the cast is obviously full of some very talented young actors and a particular congratulations must be said for Emily Houghton for her dedication to being a Viking-loving loon and for Naomi Petersen who made it very hard to believe that ‘Angus thongs and even more snogging’ was her first professional production since graduation from the Drama Studio in London.

For the more sentimental of you, there was even a touching scene involving the family’s cat, Angus, thrown in. Being less than sentimental, I had to hold back the laughter rather than the tears, but for those of you with more pliant heartstrings, then it certainly adds another dimension. The one thing about this show is that it is what it is. Do not go hoping to see an intellectual and thought provoking piece of theatre because you won’t find it. The play is based on a group of over-dramatic schoolgirls raving about boys and the traumas of teenage life and that’s exactly what this production gives you. You’re not allowed to just be an audience, you are involved from the start (some clever audience interaction from the actors ensures this) but it really is all for one and one for all as we all are invited into the Ace Gang and the girls’ bond of friendship for that night.

Including some crazy dream scenes, live performances, a Viking dance and a two minute adaption of Romeo and Juliet (one of the most hilarious reproductions I’ve seen) this show gives you it all and if you can make it through two hours of ‘Ooo-errs’, ‘bazoomas’, ‘nunga-nungas’ and ‘osity’ and are up for a laugh then I can’t see why you aren’t down there now.

Runs until 3rd March

Photograph: Keith Pattison

Angus, Thongs & Even more Snogging – West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, 5.0 out of 5 based on 3 ratings

Tags: Alex Silverman, Angus, Emily Houghton, Leeds, Louise Rennison, Naomi Petersen, Ryan McBryde, Thongs & even more snogging, West Yorkshire Playhouse