We Will Rock You
02 August 2023
London Coliseum
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
I didn’t get a chance to see We Will Rock You last time it hit London, so had to take a trip to the Coliseum to check it out this time around.
Being a Queen-based jukebox musical, I didn’t have super high expectations, but it really leans into the whole kitschy humour that goes with all the cliches about this type of musical, and that lends it an unexpected strength!
In a dreary, computer and AI dominated future in which creativity is forbidden, young people are moulded into mainstream conformists with no individual thoughts, music is computer generated and rock all but forgotten, the earth has been renamed as iPlanet, rules by the Globalsoft Corporation led by Killer Queen, part human, part AI. It’s a bizarre concept that just gets weirder from there.
According to an ancient prophecy, a young hero and his “bad-assed girl” will revive rock music and free the world from its computer-led misery. A small group of rebels, named the Bohemians, place all their hope into this prophecy.
Meanwhile, young Galileo Figaro hears lines of the greatest rock hymns inside his head, remembering the long forgotten, setting out with his girlfriend Scaramouch to revive rock music and free the world.
It’s a very odd story, sure. And it doesn’t make a lot of sense on the surface of it. But it is used as a hilarious vehicle to pump out Queen hit after hit, with dynamic choreographies and so many bizarre laugh-out-loud moments. So if you can sit back and let the lack of logic or cohesion fall by the wayside, it’s an extremely enjoyable musical full of classic hits and so much energy, all wrapped up in joy and hope!
I for one loved the show and the way it really leaned into the worst cliches of jukebox musicals and actually made them work with a huge dose of humour.