THISISPOPBABY - WAKE ★ Sadler's Wells Peacock Theatre | April 2 - 5, 2025


This show promises to be a riff on an Irish wake. Apparently, it is intended as a celebration of life, but it unfortunately does not rise up to that billing. Although we are told at the beginning that we are in for what will literally be a life changing experience, the show proves to be considerably less than that. The production is a hodgepodge of various acts which oversells itself and really doesn't deliver. The spoken word intervals which are probably meant to tie things together thematically are just insistently pretentious and way too lengthy. And, what a man vainly attempting to windmill tassels from his naked bottom, while singing "Seduce Me," has to do with an Irish wake is far from clear. There is a smattering of breaking, some reasonably well-sung songs and a lot of mediocre choreography. Also on offer are some fairly competent step dancing moments, plus a couple of not very original gymnastics' and aerial acrobatics' routines. The low point is definitely the comedy efforts, and a repeated DJ sequence which simply isn't funny. The constant appeals for crowd approval, intrusions into the audience and forced audience involvement were simply cringeworthy. In fact, none of the performances comes up to the standard of what you would see on an average Saturday evening on Britain's Got Talent. Unfortunately, it has to be a "no" from us.

Rated: ★

Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Ruth Medjber

When, Where, Getting there:
Map & Location: Portugal St, London WC2A 2HT, UK

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