Review by Colin, Aifric & Maeve

About 2,500 years ago, in Ancient Greece, a lone actor stepped out of the chorus and spoke back to them, and invented modern theatre.

After about 2,400 years, people were getting bored of that, and one day an actor found himself humming on stage. The chorus hummed back, and musical theatre was invented.

Then, another 60 or so years later, the chorus decided to dress as cheerleaders, and the high school musical was born.

For the last 50 years, writers have laboured under the misapprehension that the high school musical had to follow some of the basic rules of drama, such as having a conflict at its heart.

Disney’s ‘High School Musical’, thus, marks another milestone in the evolution of modern drama. By dispensing with conflict, Disney found an audience previously thought to be pre-theatre, and they have made ‘HSM’ an enormous hit.

Clearly, 35 year old men are not in that intended audience, and so I invited some co-critics, aged ten.

“The songs are a bit cheesy,” said Afric. “I’d put, like, more funny bits in it,” said Maeve. They both, however, gave it nine and three quarters out of ten.

“It’s like kindergarten,” said one. “Only better,” said the other. Actually, that wasn’t my co-critics – that’s how the leads describe their on-stage relationship.

This touring production comes from the UK. It boasts a cast of 26, an extremely simple, flexible set, and endless songs, most of which sound alike, often because they are the same. But, dammit, they’re all so ridiculously happy, and so athletic and young and good looking, that it’s difficult not to smile back at them, and impossible not to wish you were down there with them, singing your little heart out, in their happy, conflict-free high school.

Published in the Irish Independent, March 20 2009