Review: MERMAIDS HAVE NO TEARS, Barons Court Theatre
Morgan has moved from Florida to New York to participate in her first mermaid parade. Whilst at the parade, she meets Wade, a literature lecturer specialising in ‘The Little Mermaid’, and his activist friend, Fyn. What follows is an intense year of self-exploration and self discovery as they confront the state of the current world we live in and what this means….
Ellis Stump wrote this show in two months, inspired by both the Coney Island Mermaid Parade and The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson. The current production at Barons Court Theatre marks the show's official debut.
The show lives up to its belief in environmental activism with how it has been designed: “All set pieces, costumes and props are made out of recyclable materials, thrifted or sourced for sustainability”. They look beautiful, especially in the underground stage space, which gives the audience the feeling of being in Ariel’s cavern of treasures. Morgan’s costume looks incredibly close to what a ‘professional’ mermaid would wear and the home made element of the skirt is ideal for asserting that she’s still new to this world.
We feel that this show has a lot of potential but it is still in the early development/draft stage. There are a lot of interesting and important ideas suggested such as gender identity, queerness and how this affects family relationships, the exploration of sexuality, freedom in education and how this can be impacted by the political climate, climate change, activism, violent oppression, mental health and queerness, substance abuse, parading vs protesting, queer history, what an ‘adult job’ looks like, fantasy and idealism vs reality etc.
It is clear to see that there are a lot of subject matters that the cast and creative team would like to present and explore, but at times, this means that the show loses cohesion and we find ourselves becoming confused and lost at points during the show. This also means that none of these subjects are explored in depth which, at times, results in the show losing the impact it aims to create and at other times, it means the plot doesn’t make sense and the story becomes very blurred. It's hard to pinpoint a specific throughline or character journey, and we find it hard to connect with the story on any kind of reflective or emotional level.
All this being said, the cast are fully committed to their roles and give the show their all. Everleigh Brenner plays the complex character of Fyn with care and conveys a skilful range of emotions and Jack Flammiger is a comedic genius, lifting the show with his chaotic portrayal of the highly impassioned character of Wade. The real star of the show is Olivia Von Opel, who plays Morgan. She gives this seemingly shallow character a surprising amount of depth and makes it look effortless. She fully embodies her role and generates a level of nuance within the ideas the show suggests, which arguably holds the show together. We only wish that her character arc was made significantly clearer and explored further.
Great ideas and a lot of potential if proper time is taken to develop the show further. An intriguing curiosity.
** Two stars
Reviewed by: Megan O’Neill
Mermaids Have No Tears plays at London’s Barons Court Theatre until 17 May, with further info here.
