Review: SNAP! A NEW MUSICAL, King’s Head Theatre
There’s no denying SNAP! has ambition. A new musical set in the glossy, image-obsessed world of fashion photography sounds like a juicy setup – and with themes such as manipulation, toxic ambition, and blurred moral lines, you’d expect something gripping. While the show has its moments, the final result feels more like a rough draft than a finished picture.
The story revolves around Max, a renowned photographer with a major campaign to shoot. He pulls in Tom, an impressionable young model, and ropes his assistant Sheila into a mess of blurred boundaries and power games, and meanwhile, Tom’s girlfriend Angela is left watching things unravel, mostly from the sidelines.
It should be compelling, and there’s definitely something to be said about image culture and control, but the show barely scratches the surface – in fact, at 70 minutes, it feels rushed and underdeveloped. Big moments happen suddenly, then they’re never mentioned again. Characters shift in tone without enough buildup. It’s like flipping through a photo album where some pages are missing entirely.
To their credit, the cast really commit. Matteo Giambias plays Max with confidence, even if the character feels like a caricature. Justine Marie Mead gives Sheila some steeliness, and Hayley Maybury has a strong voice, though Angela isn’t given much to do beyond react. Will Usherwood-Bliss has charm, but as Tom, he’s often reduced to a blank slate.
Vocals are solid across the board, but the songs themselves don’t leave much of an impression. A few duets hint at emotional depth, but the lyrics rarely dig deep enough to reveal anything new. More often than not, they feel like placeholders – pleasant but forgettable.
Visually, the show knows what it’s doing. It’s all cool lighting and clean lines, giving it that modern, stylised feel. But that polish only highlights how little is actually happening underneath. We’re shown relationships breaking down, careers hanging in the balance, but we’re never really invited to feel anything, and the stakes remain stubbornly low.
There’s also a tonal issue. The show can’t quite decide if it wants to be a sharp satire, a steamy drama, or a psychological thriller. Maybe it’s a comedy? As a result, it doesn’t fully commit to any of them, and moments that should be intense come off as awkward, attempts at humour fizzle, and it’s neither fun enough to entertain nor deep enough to provoke.
SNAP! is a show with potential, but right now, it’s all concept and no clarity. With sharper writing, stronger emotional arcs, and more time to let the story breathe, it could grow into something much more compelling. But as it stands, it’s a stylish sketch of a musical that hasn’t quite come into focus.
** Two stars
Reviewed by: Lisamarie Lamb
SNAP! A NEW MUSICAL plays at London’s King’s Head Theatre until 25 May, with further info via the link below:
https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/38/by-david-o-brien/snap-a-new-musical
Photo credit: Stuart Yeatman