“A great date night – take your high school sweetheart with you“
Anna Shannon
4 /5 Croquet Mallets
Westerberg High School, Ohio, 1989. A time before cell phones, social media, cyber bullying, even the age of the internet was still in its infancy and Western society acceptance of the LGBQTI community simply wasn’t. And luckily for Veronica Sawyer (Tiegan Denina) and her boyfriend Jason Dean (J.D.) (an enigmatic Jerrod Smith), murder was easily covered up with a forged hand written suicide note.
High School students are cliquish, there are the nerds, the misfits, the cheerleaders, the jocks – and then, there are the Heathers! You know, those three beautiful popular girls that rule the school and will destroy anything in their path to remain at the top of the food chain.
The Mitchell Old Company presents HEATHERS -directed by Jake Tyler. Based on the cult classic 1988 movie HEATHERS – a face paced, dark and hilarious production that keeps you laughing and on the edge of your seat as the storyline takes a few unexpected twists and turns.
Act 1, the stage lights up on Veronica Sawyer (Denina), a sweet, young, teenage misfit (evident by her modest costume) and her loving friendship with lovely Martha Dunnstock (Jayd Luna) – also, a misfit. A minimalist set effectively uses chalkboard imagery and red lockers to instantly evoke a high school setting and the opening song “Beautiful” introduces the audience to Veronica’s world. Which is about to take a huge turn for the worse.
Our first vision of the Heathers is a stunning silhouette pose by the three Heathers (Sabrina Kirkham, Kira Leiva and Laura Dawson). Their position at the top of the stairs tells us all we need to know of their status. Veronica quickly hustles her way into this powerful and cutthroat clique of Westerberg High, whose costumes seem inspired by Cher and Dionne’s high school outfits in the 1995 cult classic Clueless. The touch of ‘rich, popular, school girl’ vibe is pervasive.
We are served a deliciously humorous introduction to our Heather characters and it is seen through the performance of “Candy Store” that Heather Chandler (Kirkham) is the leader of the pack with her poised red jacket, gorgeous long blonde hair and dominant stance. Kirkham embodies Heather Chandler perfectly reminding us all of that beautiful, popular mean girl we’ve all seen in those movies (Mean Girls, anyone?)
Then we meet J.D (Smith), something of a gothic misfit with his dark hair and long black coat. It seems he is always on the edge of committing some sort of felonious deed. Smith embraces the role and as J.D (Smith) and Veronica (Denina) bond over the 711 slurpees and their mutual experience as outsiders in high school, it isn’t long before the red lockers on stage turn into J.D’s bed after Veronica is humiliated and threatened at the home coming party.
Veronica and J.D begin a journey of killing off their bullies, mostly instigated by J.D with his dark past. It is darkly humorous but ultimately, you have to take a position. And murder, it seems may be not be the answer to bullying for bullies remain bullies, even in death. And their underwear.
Act 2 opens with what is possibly the funniest number of the show. “My Dead Gay Son” says enough in the title to intimate where that number is going. I can say the audience was in stitches as Jake Vollbon and Sam Welsh doubled up on the characters of the Fathers of the murdered Jocks.
Act 2 also takes the time to explore in more depth Heather Duke’s (Leiva) and Heather McNamara’s (Dawson) characters. Leiva and Dawson do not disappoint as they peel back the character layers to reveal emotional states. Dawson’s portrayal of Heather Duke after the confrontation of the wonderful Ms Fleming (Michele Landsdown) at the school assembly is adorably brilliant.
There is a sort of stereotype look of a Heather and the casting in this musical reflects that expectation. Denina’s Veronica Sawyer is sweet, delightful yet powerful and her exquisite singing completely engages the audience. The choreography (Rheanna Hindmarch and Gelina Enriquez) works seamlessly with Tyler’s stage direction and is energetically supported by Old’s music production.
A great date night – take your high school sweetheart with you.
Reviewer, Theatre Now
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