Show: Forbidden Nights
Location: St. Helens Theatre Royal, St. Helens
Date: Thursday September 30 2021
Time: 19.30
Running Time: 120 Minutes
Age Rating: 18+
This is our theatre review for Forbidden Nights at St Helens Theatre Royal. So, let’s take a look at Forbidden Nights!
Forbidden Nights
Synopsis
This is a full production show in a new genre of entertainment. And it combines superlative circus and acrobatic skills with fine-tone physiques. Furthermore, it showcases stunt routines and explosive choreography, all by a cast that we hand-pick from across the UK. You may recognise the guys from their Britain’s Got Talent audition. In fact, their audition would receive over 80 million hits on YouTube, making it amongst the top ten most-watched auditions in BGT history! You can watch one example of the action online.
Analysis
The theatre was jam-packed, mostly with women and a few guys. The curtain was down and the atmosphere was palpable. I’ve never been to this style of show before and had no idea what to expect. It was billed as a ‘Circus Show’. That intrigued me for starters as I actually used to work in a circus. It was years ago and it was a traditional old fashioned style circus where we had acrobats, clowns and trapeze artists so I knew I could be in for a different style of show here.
Well, it couldn’t have been more different to what I was expecting. There were a lot of dance numbers. 17 I counted. And 3 circus-style acts, aerial straps, fire and hoop. I will go into more detail about the acts later but first, a few things to mention.
The line up consisted of 6 males. 5 of them were the main cast and 1 was the host. I didn’t manage to get all their names because frankly the compere’s mic wasn’t loud enough and I could barely hear anything over the whooping and screams. I’ve no doubt that the cast are strong performers in their chosen field but in my opinion this did not translate to the stage. As an ensemble I found the dance routines to be out of time, lacking of any originality and to be honest quite samey. They all followed the same premise: dance, item of clothing off, dance again, some floor work or chair work and another item removed. They bill it as ‘Explosive dance routines’. That’s not how I’d describe the choreography I saw on stage last night.
The lads were good performers, no doubt about that. They also delivered the goods so to speak. As superficial as it sounds they were good looking lads with bodies to match. This isn’t something I would usually comment on in a review but in essence this is what the show is selling.
The quality of the show was improved during the circus-style act segments. These were good but fleeting moments. The fire act was everything you expect a fire act to be and the poi section was impressive. The aerial strap act was great as well as the hoop act. These were definitely the strong parts of the show. I found the compere to be a little risque at times. I understand this is an adult-themed show but some of the patter was a little crude and uncomfortable for me.
The host was good at getting the audience onside, maybe seemingly too good. When the audience started to chant ‘Get it off, get it off!’ he reminded me a bit like a rabbit caught in the headlights, quickly introducing the next act and running off stage. The audience was great and I would say that this show heavily relies on audience participation. They bring up members of the audience to join in and also encourage audience members to film and share their content online. A clever marketing trick and also good for an interval break.
Summary
I found the show overall to be samey, repetitive and generally lacking in any production value. I’m obviously not their target audience. The rest of the audience seemed to be enjoying it. I was expecting more, especially after seeing how they market it. For me, sadly it did not live up to my expectations.
Notes
Target Audience: 18+
Content: Some Strong Language and strong sexual references.
Recommendation?: No
Overall Rating: 4/10 – Disappointing
Forbidden Nights Further Link
Forbidden Nights is on a UK tour you can check out further dates and you can buy tickets right now.
This show also has an exclusive website for you to check out.
Did you see Forbidden Nights? Let us know by leaving a comment below!
