Play: 'Carrie: The Musical'

Part of me is certain I knew this existed, but I recently saw an advertisement for a short run of Carrie: The Musical playing at the Oxford Playhouse, a production by the University of Oxford Student Company, and I immediately knew I had to see it!

My grandmother used to take me to a lot of productions put on by OUSC, often with a musical accompaniment. I was always struck by the incredible singing voices being projected from such young people and how talented they could be. After a long time away and missing out on other productions (the last being a Student Union production of Rope - fantastic BTW), this was a reminder of how much I love the troupe.

This particular musical was written in the late 80s, as an adaptation upon Stephen King's famous novel Carrie. The film version by Brian De Palma, is in my opinion one of the most incredibly shot films ever made, combining all elements of great film making from the cinematography, script, acting, music and narrative composition. There always seemed to be an element of a 50s suspense film inspired in that film, with an eerie juxtaposition of the soft focus, hazy 70s setting, as the backdrop to a spooky tale.

This production was in a present day setting, but keeping true to the story line. It's a well known tale of a troubled teenage outcast, the victim of bullying at school and religious fanaticism at home, who discovers her torment and distress fuels the power of telekinesis, with devastating consequences. A true tale of morality to mind your ps and qs and be nice, if ever there was one!

The cast was bulked up to create that sense of animosity towards Carrie in the school setting, in contrast to the solitariness at home where just she and her mother would appear. Each cast member had plenty to do, a select few particularly involved with dancing. Now, we've already established this is a musical of the horror story Carrie, but yes that does also include dancing.

Though the likes of myself would have hoped for more stage gore, the set design was well used and constructed, with the cast relying on bodily movement to convey the acts of telekinesis at play. Though things felt they could have been sharpened up, especially since these guys weren't going the route of performing this musical as tongue in cheek, but seemed genuinely invested in portraying it seriously, there was no doubt the singing was the driving force here and they used what they had to work with in terms of space to the best of their abilities.

This musical has a troubled history, perhaps expectantly considering it's combination of genres that don't necessarily match. It wouldn't be the first time horror and musicals have been combined, but you can understand why this particular musical has morphed into a satirical production from it's initial serious intent. It is hard to square the bleak tone of the story with the upbeat, optimism of a musical. Not that the play is devoid of humor, but the subject matter isn't one to be taken lightly. Body, supernatural and psychological horror are at the forefront and there really is no happy resolution.