Theatre Reviews

SNAP a new musical
King’s Head Theatre
3rd to 25th May, 2025

“One snap can capture a moment… or change everything.

In this bold and captivating new musical, the glamorous yet cut throat world of photography becomes the backdrop for a tangled web of ambition, passion, and deception.

When renowned photographer Max lands a major campaign, he pulls his assistant Sheila and an unsuspecting young model, Tom, into a high-stakes game of manipulation. Meanwhile, Tom’s girlfriend Angela is left questioning everything when a single text threatens to tear their relationship apart…

As emotions blur and secrets come into focus, SNAP! takes audiences on a stylish, sharp-witted journey through love, betrayal, and the power of the perfect image.

Featuring an electrifying original score and razor-sharp storytelling, this thrilling musical will have you questioning – are we ever really in control of our own narrative?”

Review by Richard Lambert, 3 Stars

Queuing to collect tickets from the Box Office at ground floor level starts the evening as the tickets hadn’t been emailed. Then a further crammed wait one level down at the bar. Then we’re allowed down to the bar on -4 to wait and finally we enter the theatre. The holding areas just aren’t large enough for everyone.

This is a brand new musical by David O’Brien. Unfortunately the book is rather thin and the story involves infidelity in the bedroom which is unlikely to shock anyone nowadays. Since Edwina Currie I can’t help but giggle rather than gasp when sex scandals come to light.

The cast is an unlikely mix. There’s Max (Matteo Giambias) who’s the campest villain I’ve seen outside of pantomime. We’re led to believe that he’s a womaniser who’s having a relationship with his assistant Sheila (Justine Maire Mead). And then the other couple is Tom (Will Usherwood-Bliss) who’s girlfriend is Angela (Hayley Maybury). Now, I can’t quite believe the pairings as presented, and then when Max gets to do a photoshoot of Tom and persuades Tom to pose in his underwear I’m starting to understand where the plot might be going. But no, Tom then sleeps with Sheila and Max sleeps with Angela. What? Never in a million years could I believe this happened. Not to mention the staging into that scene – a very very long dance of the lights underscored by a piano, then a projection of the moon which places us outdoors, I thought, but then they wake up in the photo studio and flat? And the cast wake up on the floor under blankets pretty much fully dressed.

It was around here that I gave up trying to follow the plot and just went with enjoying the spectacle. Some lovely songs, some camp villainy that can’t quite match the cartoon character that would have made it really funny, a leading man who is cute as a button and runs around in his underwear a lot (except when he comes out of the shower when he’s fully dressed, shoes and all, drying bone dry hair with a towel).

Throw in several 80’s style blackouts to separate scenes, some dodgy video that projects onto the villain more than the screen, haze that can’t compete with the venue’s aircon, and you’ve got a modern day version of Wacky Racers with Dastardly and Mutley.

It’s entertaining, silly and it made me giggle!

Photo credit: Stuart Yeatman

Cast:
Matteo Giambias
Hayley Maybury
Justine Maire Mead
Will Usherwood-Bliss