A hen party gone wrong is always fertile ground for comedy, but Hen Night Horror at St Helens Theatre Royal turns the chaos up to eleven, delivering a gloriously daft, big-hearted night that has the audience howling from the first entrance to the final blackout.
Although set in Scotland there’s something wonderfully St Helens about this production: it’s loud, cheeky, unpretentious and utterly determined to give its audience a cracking night out. Hen Night Horror embraces all the familiar tropes — the over-excited bride-to-be, the questionable venue and the friends who have already had one too many — before throwing a generous helping of horror into the mix. The result is far more fun than frightening.
Leading the chaos are Dani Heron as Lydia, Hannah Howie as Donna and Jennifer Neil as bride-to-be Amanda, with Alan Orr as Mr Jefferies and Matthew McKenna as PC Walters providing plenty of additional comic ammunition. Together, the cast are the real driving force of the show, bouncing effortlessly off one another while feeding on the energy of the St Helens audience.
The characters may be larger than life, but the performances are never simply thrown away for a laugh. Amanda’s escalating panic, the maid of honour’s increasingly questionable decision-making and the friend who appears to be looking for a fight are all played with infectious, cartoonish charm. Beneath the silliness is a clear understanding of character and, crucially, comic timing.
And comedy is very much the backbone of the production. Jokes come thick and fast, physical gags are given plenty of room to breathe, and the cast clearly know how to work a local audience. The horror elements are used intelligently, adding enough suspense and surprise to keep the story moving without ever threatening to overshadow the laughs.
Production-wise, Hen Night Horror proves equally effective. The set transforms a familiar party venue into somewhere considerably stranger, while the lighting adds just enough spooky atmosphere to complement the action. The direction keeps everything moving at a brisk pace, ensuring that even when the madness reaches fever pitch, the production never feels as though it is losing control.
The story is set in Scotland and although some of the accents are difficult to understand what ultimately makes Hen Night Horror work so well, though, is its warmth. Beneath the shrieks, slapstick and sheer daftness is a genuine affection for its characters, its audience and the theatre itself. It knows exactly what kind of night out it wants to provide — and delivers it with plenty of confidence.
More laughs than scares, Hen Night Horror is a riotous night of hen-party chaos, horror and big-hearted fun.
To find out what’s coming up at the St Helens Theatre Royal visit sthelenstheatreroyal.com.
