I admit, there were high hopes for The Addams family. Being a lifelong fan watching reruns of the black and white 60s sitcom to reveling in the Films of the 90s I have always had a fondness for the cookiest spookiest family around. The stage was set and the lights dim to a packed house as the famous clicks begin the iconic theme tune.
We see the fabulously decked out cast in all their glory all looking on point and with the moves to match, Gomez and Morticia’s tangoing between the pale gaunt Addam’s clan whilst crossbows are fired and lighting strikes crash the first songs land well with the audience and I am geared up for a trip inside 001 Cemetery Lane.
Sadly from there I got less caught up in the magic and by the end of the first act I was truly deflated. The characters were there (notably Scott Paige’s Fester is a force of nature). Yet the jokes weren’t landing and the pauses between dialogue left me feeling like each gag a swing and a miss.
The show does look great and I thought the cast did a good job with what they were working with but the script didn’t work for me and the direction was lacklustre. Maybe it’s me, or opening night jitters or the oaf sat next to me manspreading so badly I thought he was inflating mid way through act 2. Regardless of what it was I came away really wishing I had loved it but felt more disengagement with the rather generic story dressed up as a raucous ride with the gloriously ghoulish family.
Review by Edith Claymore
Addams Family runs until 13th November, for tickets and more information please visit www.trch.co.uk
