Lighthouse Poole is delighted to be co-producing the much-anticipated new production of Little Shop of Horrors with Exeter Northcott and Coventry Belgrade Theatre. The classic satirical play by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman is Exeter Northcott's first full-scale musical in more than 20 years and marks a key milestone in the theatre's plans for thinking big through national collaboration.
As its Creative Director and Joint Chief Executive Martin Berry explains in our special interview...
Lighthouse is excited to be collaborating in this production of Little Shop of Horrors. How did this come about?
The collaboration came out of a shared appetite to make a proper, high-quality musical at a scale that made sense for our theatres and audiences. Little Shop of Horrors felt like exactly the right title: brilliantly known, hugely loved, very funny, but also compact enough to be made with real theatrical imagination rather than simply trying to replicate a huge commercial model. For Exeter Northcott, it also marks an important moment as our first self-produced musical in over 20 years, so having strong partners in Lighthouse Poole and Coventry Belgrade Theatre has been invaluable. These partnerships allow regional theatres to be more ambitious than we might be alone. We can share resources, audiences, creative energy and risk, while still making something that feels distinctive and rooted in the strengths of each organisation. It has been a genuinely exciting collaboration.
The show is extremely well known and instantly recognisable to fans of the 1986 film and subsequent stage productions, but perhaps it has fallen slightly under the radar in recent years. Why do you feel the time is right for a revival?
I think Little Shop of Horrors is one of those shows people remember with enormous affection but perhaps don’t always remember quite how brilliant it is. The songs are extraordinary, the comedy is razor-sharp, and beneath all the sci-fi madness there is a real emotional pull. It feels timely because it is about people dreaming of escape: wanting more from life, wanting love, wanting security, wanting to be seen. That feels very human and very current. It is also a show about ambition, temptation and the price of success, which gives it a darker bite beneath the fun. And then, of course, it is just wildly entertaining. At a time when audiences are looking for joy, energy and a great night out, Little Shop offers all of that, but with real heart and mischief too.
How has it been assembling the cast and company for the production?
It has been a real joy. The show needs an incredibly particular company: performers who can sing brilliantly, handle comedy, move well, play with real truth, and also embrace the slightly heightened, comic-book world of the piece. It is not enough simply to sing the notes; the whole company has to understand the tone, the wit and the emotional life underneath it. We have also been really pleased to bring together a company with strong regional connections, including a number of artists based in or connected to the South West. That matters to us. We want our produced work to create opportunities for brilliant artists here, while also drawing in exceptional talent from elsewhere. The rehearsal room has had a fantastic energy: generous, funny, focused and properly collaborative. It feels like a company that really understands the show and is enjoying the challenge of bringing it to life. This really is a world class company and cast…and of course supplemented by a fabulous community chorus.
What can audiences expect to see in this production and what do you hope they’ll take away with them?
Audiences can expect a really entertaining, high-energy production with brilliant songs, bold performances, sharp comedy and, of course, one very hungry plant. We want it to feel theatrical, playful and alive — not a museum piece or a copy of the film, but a fresh stage production that celebrates everything people love about Little Shop of Horrors. There is the doo-wop sound, the B-movie sci-fi feel, the romance, the chaos, the darkness and the sheer absurdity of it all. But I also hope audiences are surprised by how much heart the show has. Seymour and Audrey are two people trapped by circumstance, dreaming of something kinder and better. Beneath the laughs and the outrageousness, there is a real tenderness there. I hope people leave having had a brilliant night out but also feeling the strange emotional punch of the story.
What are the key scenes that unlock Little Shop of Horrors?
For me, the show unlocks when you take both the comedy and the emotional truth seriously. Skid Row is crucial because it establishes the world: a place of poverty, frustration and thwarted dreams, but also enormous musical energy. Grow for Me is the point where Seymour’s relationship with the plant begins, and where the central bargain of the story starts to form. Somewhere That’s Green is absolutely key because it tells us who Audrey is beneath the surface. It is funny, yes, but it is also deeply moving: a tiny, domestic dream of safety and love. Feed Me is where temptation properly takes hold, and Suddenly, Seymour is the emotional release — the moment the show lets itself be sincerely romantic. Then the finale reminds us that this is still a cautionary tale. The plant may be funny, but it is also appetite, greed and ambition made flesh.
Your favourite part?
It changes all the time, because the show is packed with brilliant moments, but I always come back to Suddenly, Seymour. It is one of those musical theatre numbers that absolutely earns its place. By the time it arrives, the audience has seen Audrey and Seymour trapped in their own versions of loneliness and low expectation, and suddenly the show opens up into something genuinely heartfelt. It is a huge, glorious, emotional release. What I love is that it manages to be both completely sincere and still part of this strange, funny, heightened world. That combination is what makes Little Shop so special. It can be ridiculous and moving within the same breath. That said, I also have a huge soft spot for the plant. Any show with a singing, manipulative, carnivorous plant has already won quite a lot of points with me.
:: Tickets available now at Little Shop of Horrors – Lighthouse and on 01202 280000.
(NC)
