Confession time. I have never before come face to face with the man-eating house plant at the heart of this B-movie-spoof musical so beloved of regional theatres and amateur dramatic societies. Now that I have peered into the insatiable jaws of Audrey II, "the strange and interesting plant" that transforms the fortunes of orphan Seymour and the Skid Row flower show where he works, I am slightly at a loss to understand the show's popularity.
However, it would need far better treatment than this to grab you. Christopher Luscombe's anaemic production has too much set, too much amplification and too little sense of fun. It lacks a lightness of touch, and looks and feels as if it hails from the 1950s rather than being a 21st-century production set in that era.
That said, occasionally the ebullient charm of Alan Menken's score, which in songs such as Suddenly Seymour foreshadows the lyrical lushness of his work for Disney's Beauty and the Beast, shines through despite the plodding stagecraft. Howard Ashman's lyrics are often also uplifting. There are plenty of moments, such as the one when the sales assistant, Audrey, Seymour's secret love and the woman after whom he has named his plant, trills: "I know that Seymour is the greatest/ But I'm dating a semi-sadist." A psychiatrist could have fun analysing this show, in which giggling gas, domestic violence, murder and sado-masochism all sit side by side.
But altogether, this is a disappointingly run-of-the-mill evening for a theatre of the size and reputation of the West Yorkshire Playhouse. It is lacking in both ambition and execution.
· Until January 25. Box office: 0113-213 7700.
