STALLED
Rating: ★★★
Venue: King's Head Theatre, London
Cast: Lauren Ward, Grace Venus, Carrie Sutton, Evita Khrime, Josie Benson, Regina Co, Rebecca-Jo Roberts, Isabella Gervais and Cezarah Bonner 

In a bougie ass Seattle ladies room, lost-but-searching Maggie meets a frazzled mother, a neurodivergent daughter, a fierce 16-year-old poet and a queer computer scientist as they navigate the ups and downs of modern life with heart and courage.

With soul-stirring melodies and a rare authenticity, their inspiring stories make for an unforgettable celebration of women, motherhood, and the power of unexpected friendship.

Based on the award-winning short story “Stalled Symphony” by Liesl Wilke, ‘Stalled’ is a musical set within a bathroom of a non-descript multiple occupancy building containing offices of a therapist, a tech start-up and a coffee shop. We meet Maggie, the cleaner of the building who becomes everyone’s shoulder to cry on while also battling her own demons.

There are highs and lows throughout the piece; we open with the titular number of ‘Stalled’ which sets us up in the space. The talent on stage is fantastic with a range of wonderful voices within the cast, each given their moment to shine throughout with some wonderful songs such as ‘Fly’ performed by Lauren Ward and Rebecca-Jo Roberts. The musical does get a bit repetitive by the end of the show with most sounding like the last making it hard to distinguish one from another but there are some more rousing treasures in amongst it.

The writing feels a little weak at points, it’s very surface level and does not delve deeper into the characters which makes the piece feel a bit underwhelming. There isn’t as much emotional depth as you would expect from the stories we’re hearing.

While the acting is mostly fantastic, some of the characters feel clichéd and stereotypical and there is little nuance to the individuals presented to us, but the cast make the best of what has been given to them, and they each give it their all in their performances. I fear this is a product of the short 90-minute run time; no one is given the time to really explore their story or to connect with the audience on a more profound level.

The set design is well thought out; a boujie bathroom with fancy hand soaps and lotions adorned with coloured lighting - it is simple yet very effective. The direction from Vikki Stone, again makes the most of the text and music but I feel is sold short of what the piece could be.

The piece as a whole is enjoyable and a good example of fringe theatre moving forward in its journey, but some extension to the running time and more investigation to the characters would benefit this piece.

You can book tickets to Stalled: A New Musical, here.

Review by Rosie

**photo credit: Johan Persson**