Scissorhandz
25 January 2025
Southwark Playhouse Elephant
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
Scissorhandz is a brand new musical parody tribute of Edward Scissorhands, currently running at the Southwark Playhouse Elephant until 29 March, and unfortunately it is quite a mess.
Now, jukebox musicals aren’t everyone’s bag, but personally if they’re well done, I celebrate them! This one however… needs work. Having grown up with Edward Scissorhands as a huge favourite film of mine back in the day, I was quite excited to see with musical take on it. And in theory, it has everything a musical needs to be great! A stunningly talented cast with gorgeous voices, whimsical costumes that evoke the 90s and the film itself in the best way possible, an adorable set that works fantastically as the setting. It’s all there! Where this show is let down is the storyline treatment and the song selection.
The story is of course simplified, but it also has added elements and changed elements that feel incredibly shoehorned in, especially the more inclusive LGBT+ elements don’t feel naturally integrated, but slapped on as a statement without building up to it or making it a clear through-line in the story. The most iconic scenes are of course included, but some are just mentioned peripherally rather than actually shown, while others are edited in a way that makes it necessary to know the film quite well to understand what is going on.
When it comes to the music, there is no coherence here either. The songs range from 80s to late 2010s, not picking a clear decade or style but rather all over the place, lacking cohesion and harmony. At times it feels like a couple of words from the previous spoken line was googled and the first song that came up was thrown into the show next. While there is nothing wrong with the songs in and of themselves, for a jukebox musical there needs to be some sort of cohesion to make sense. Pick an artist, a decade, or at least a music style to give a through-thread and feel like a well developed piece of theatre. This one’s unfortunately a bit of a mess that mashes different ideas, styles, and decades together, letting down the quality cast with chaotic disarray.
Ellis Eerdmans 30 January 2025
I felt exactly the same way! Was so excited to see the show and then felt quite let down. Was this really the result of so much love and attention for the subject matter.
Miss Mizo 31 January 2025
I disagree, I found this show uplifting and thoroughly enjoyable. I wasn’t alone, going by the enthusiasm of the audiences standing ovation. If you love the film so much, go and watch it on Disney + I’m personally pleased this was a very different take.