The extreme always seems to make an impression

Honey, what'cha waiting for? Step into my candy store!

I have a lot of opinions about Heathers, both the 1989 film starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater and the musical adaptation by Kevin Murphy and Laurence O'Keefe. For now, I'll focus on the 2021-22 West End production of the musical, which is delightfully camp, if a little insensitive.

Apart from one hilarious “Marthur” from J.D. (Jacob Fowler), the American accents are really not bad across the board. Vocally, Maddison Firth stands out as Heather Chandler, but again, the entire cast is excellent. Lizzie Bea's rendition of “Kindergarten Girlfriend” brought me to tears.

I have very mixed feelings about the direction and choreography. Let's start with what I like. At the beginning of “Our Love Is God”, when J.D. sings “They made you cry”, Veronica shakes her head and mouths “I'm fine”. I love this because it places emphasis on Veronica's habit of minimising her feelings to fit in. She does it with the Heathers; she does it with her boyfriend; this makes her choice to put herself first in “I Say No” more poignant.

“Candy Store” is delightful. I love the chemistry between the three Heathers. (The night I saw the show, Heather McNamara was played by Hannah Lowther and Heather Duke by Inez Budd.) Heather Duke's insecurity and jealousy of Heather Chandler was palpable from the second the Heathers strutted onto the stage, and the choreography in “Candy Store” heightens this.

J.D. spends the first part of “Seventeen” sprawled on the floor looking away from Veronica after she pushes him away. He stands up just before they begin to sing together and goes to her on “I could be good with you”. This shows in a subtle, decisive way that he's reaching out to her, that he wants to save their relationship. Then it's ruined when he holds her from behind (why does every single production do this? It puts space between J.D. and Veronica when they desperately need intimacy. It's also very paternalistic and patronising).

Speaking of the choreography of physical intimacy, I don't like how dramatic the kisses are. I especially dislike how “My Dead Gay Son” is staged, with Kurt's father and Ram's father fully making out. I get that Heathers deals in satire a lot, but there's satire and then there's whatever that is. Queer people don't need to be the butt of jokes.

In the reprise of “Seventeen”, when Veronica asks Martha if she's free to hang out, Martha enters in a wheelchair and wheels past Veronica to the front of the stage before backing up slowly. As she was backing up, some audience members were laughing, and someone in the front row snorted twice. Davidson and Firth both broke character and collapsed in laughter before regaining their composure. It was a very funny and sweet moment. I could have used more genuinely sweet moments.

Vocally, Ailsa Davidson is a fantastic performer. She does, however, overact a lot of her “Dear Diary” asides. I wasn't convinced by her chemistry with Fowler; Davidson's Veronica doesn't have the dark edge that Winona Ryder had in the film, making it less believable that she would “go steady” with the resident bad boy.

This Heathers is a mostly enjoyable experience, though I'm not impressed by what I assume was management's decision to include warnings for suicide, violence, and sexual assault, but not one for eating disorders. Do better.

Heathers is running at The Other Palace, West End, London through 4 September 2022.