We round up the reviews for Celine Lowenthal‘s production, playing at the Southwark Playhouse’s Borough location.
Broadway World: ***** “Pulling off a piece of gig theatre that still effectively tells a story isn’t easy. Director Celine Lowenthal makes the storytelling slick and smart, with clever use of the aisle and of a lack of physical contact helping the show come across both as funny and as affecting as possible.”
The Guardian: **** ” Performers radiate charm and the script balances well between earnestness and observational comedy: the university fresher satire is especially fizzy with housemates introduced as types such as “Political Lad” and “Posh Boy”. Later, when Heron’s character becomes part of a thruple, there is pin-sharp comedy of millennial mores.”
There Ought to be Clowns: “There’s something extraordinary – and it really shouldn’t be so – in Sugar Coat’s exploration of modern sexuality, in the calmness and conviction with which it depicts what society too often deems unconventional. Stepping outside of the heteronormative sphere is no small feat for anyone, anywhere, and the importance of positive reinforcement should never be underestimated – it gladdened my heart that there were no guffaws at a certain moment here.”
West End Best Friend: **** “Sugar Coat is a powerful and important piece of pop-punk theatre which is honest about the struggles of trauma and recovery. This bold coming-of-age story will make you laugh, cry and leave the theatre feeling empowered.”
The Reviews Hub: ***** “Although the story itself is fairly mundane given its prevalence, the play and the women who know these experiences are anything but. As a woman, you leave feeling seen. As a person, you leave with reverence for women’s strength. As an audience, you leave wanting to join the Sugar Coat rock band.”
Lost in Theatreland: ***** “Sugar Coat is fresh, unique, exciting, and unapologetically feminist. It’s intensely relatable, and evokes both tears and laughter in its audience. This is a sugary sweet piece of gig theatre – and I’m looking forward to seeing how this show progresses.”
London Theatre Reviews: **** “Sugar Coat gets the audience fired up in their seats as the five aspiring musicians riff away bursting with energy. Headbanging and guitar-licking – Sugar Coat fits it all in – all the while being an emotional and refreshingly earnest show about sex.”
All That Dazzles: ****** “These pitch-perfect performances are aided greatly by the original songs by co-writer and co-musical director (along with Pearson) Lilly Pollard. Her songs are not only fun to listen to, but sound authentically like what the more evolved, self-assured version of Heron’s character might write about these experiences when looking back on them.”
Sugar Coat continues to play at the Southwark Playhouse until the 22nd April.