Silence! The Musical

The third of this week’s trilogy of shows produced by Paul Taylor-Mills to feature in Norwich Theatre Playhouse’s Festival of New Musicals is actually a revival of a musical written by Jon Kaplan and Al Kaplan, and first performed in New York in 2005. Inspired by the novel by Thomas Harris and, of course by the 1991 Academy Award winning film, ‘Silence! The Musical‘, translates into a gloriously dark and funny musical stage parody, unafraid to poke fun at everything from Jodie Foster’s oddly contorted Southern accent, to Hannibal Lecter’s fascination with the smell of female reproductive organs.

Much, much darker in tone than either 'I Wish You Well – The Gwyneth Paltrow Ski-Trial Musical' or 'Come Dine With Me -The Musical', 'Silence! The Musical!' will still have you laughing out loud, as Phoebe Panateros (as Clarice) is joined by a troupe of dancing lambs as she attempts to get inside the mind of Hannibal Lecter (played by Mark Oxtoby). Her quest is to identify and locate serial killer Buffalo Bill Gumb (Jake Anthony) before he can kill kidnapped senator‘s daughter Catherine (Catherine Millsom). And all this whilst Clarice is still desperately trying to honour the memory of her late father, a Virginia sheriff who was killed during a robbery, and whose ghostly presence is never far away, reminding her to ‘do him proud’.

With some hilarious song and dance numbers, led by that chorus of ovine hoofers, as well as sparkling comedic performances from all ten members of the cast under the direction of Tony Award winning director Christopher Gattelli and designer Scott Pask, 'Silence' is a musical that mixes camp comedy with satirical surreality, and treads a path that is one part Rocky Horror, one part Guys and Dolls. Its fast pace, quick scene changes, and sparkling musical numbers enable Clarice to establish the identity of Buffalo Bill, and for Catherine to be rescued from the bottom of the well, all within the 60 minutes of the show's duration.

It certainly helps if you have watched the movie (and let‘s face it, most of us must have), or have read the book, but there are still plenty of laughs and dramatic surprises to enjoy if you haven‘t. However, be warned. Some of the song titles and lyrics might may seem shocking to some of the more mild-mannered theatre-goers. Certainly not one for young children, but I adored it.