The Fat Rascal Theatre presents a refreshing take towards the centuries old fairytale ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ originally written by French novelist Gabrielle Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. After a successful production in 2017 that saw a nomination for an Offie (The Off West End Theatre Awards), Beauty and the Beast: A Musical Parody is back at Kings Head Theatre, located in Highbury and Islington, this time with an UK tour with dates set in Cambridge, Birmingham, Sheffield, Stourport and more to be announced.
This production puts a twist to the stock characters of Belle, a beautiful and intelligent female protagonist, and the Beast, by gender-swapping the roles. Replacing Belle is the diffident bookworm Beau, played by Jamie Mawson, who lives by the credo “WWJAD” aka “what would Jane Austen do”. Mawson’s charming performance of Beau makes you like the protagonist instantly. Robyn Grant plays the Beast, a character reinterpreted as a princess cursed for her pride as she hides her sensitive nature through bullish bravado.
The actors enjoy great chemistry. From initial enemies to bonding romantically through their shared love for Jane Austen, the way Mawson and Grant interact with each other is entertaining, as well as relatable to a younger millennial audience. Notably, after the climax of the play, where Beau and Beast dance in a bumbling rendition of the famous Beauty and the Beast dance, the Beast, nervously wonders if Beau likes ‘hairy girls”, a quip met with great laughter from the audience. Beauty the Beast: A Musical Parody is full of such quips, irony, and the type of wisecrack humour that guarantee you will laugh out loud.
As the play’s main villain Chevonne, the cocky female counterpart to Disney’s Gaston, Katie Wells puts on a convincing performance as the village leader and heartthrob. She characterises Chevonne as an out of touch conservative aristocrat who holds up her nose at “feminists” and supports fox hunting with a passion, arguing that if foxes aren’t hunted, “the next you know they’ll be moving in next door, stealing our jobs!” The dialogue in the play at times gets so ridiculous that it becomes silly which achieves the purpose of comedic effect while mocking aspects of British society post-Brexit.
Last but not least, this wonderful production couldn’t have been complete without the support of Allie Munro, who plays the three characters La Fou Fou, Lumie and the eccentric Maureen, and Aaron Dart, who plays Mr Spout and the Foxy Enchanter.
Unlike Disney’s live-action version of Beauty and the Beast whose “exclusively gay moment” lasted only 2 seconds as the camera fleetingly darted from a dancing homosexual couple in its ending, this parody certainly does not hesitate with their depiction of Le Fou Fou’s gayness. With their alternative ending to the fate of the play’s main lovers Beau and Beast, the fantastic efforts of its creative team, Beauty and the Beast: A Musical Parody have spawned a hilarious, modern version of the age-old classic.
Beauty and the Beast: A Musical Parody is on at King’s Head Theatre, London, until 17th November.