Chris Omaweng

Don’t go for the storyline, even if it is fairly detailed. If it’s something deep and meaningful you’re after that’s (partly) about descending into Hell, Hadestown is still the musical to go for. Beetlejuice, subtitled ‘The Musical. The Musical. The Musical.’ for reasons known (known, known) to patrons familiar with the motion picture and/or stage show. No prior knowledge is required to follow proceedings.

William Critchard (Jordan Luke Gage) and Richard Arnold (Daniel Kirkler) were executed in September 1753 for “the detestable crime of buggery”. Until 1861 sexual activity between men resulted in the death penalty if found guilty, and it remained illegal in England and Wales until the Sexual Offences Act 1967. As this musical would have it, Critchard was a footman to a wealthy gentleman in Bristol and Arnold was a lieutenant in the Royal Navy.

The world of this show is very different than the one inhabited by Londoners: set in a small town, or perhaps even a village, in America, there is an almost inevitable reaching for guns and ammunition as a means to resolve simmering community tension (yep, you couldn’t make it up and all that).