After an enforced break (thanks to Covid) and the extensive refurbishment at the Borough Theatre, it was a certainly good to see AAODS senior group following their junior section and returning to the stage last week.

It was sad that the aforementioned extensive refurbishment meant that their long awaited return had to be to a stage in neighbouring Crickhowell, but we can’t have everything and it seems that an orchestra pit large enough to accommodate an orchestra is just too much to expect from a £1m project!

But now isn’t the time to complain it’s the time to move from the Little Theatre of Horrors and move on to the Little Shop of Horrors... which unlike the former, was anything but horrific!

If at times it seemed more like that other movie classic Back to the Future, it’s surely more to my nostalgia at seeing the young cast I’ve watched perform since they were in short trousers, now in many cases donning even shorter skirts to take the lead in the senior society.

The strong cast was led by ‘real life’ couple, Luke Williams and Alys Le Moignan as the hapless Seymour and his ditzy girlfriend Audrey.

This talented pair dominated the proceedings, with Luke particularly excelling in his first truly leading role.

Excellent back up came from the Sian Hollister, Meg Trinder and Cath Noakes as the Skid Row trio, whose powerful voices acted as the modern Greek chorus, delighting in the ever-more gruesome happenings at Mr Mushnik’s flower shop. 

Speaking of Mr Musknik, he was well played by familiar AAODS face Kerrigan Heffernan who along with Alex Brown as the sadistic dentist, completed the ‘human’ line up of principals.

With only 12 on stage, there was no room for error and it is to the credit of all those involved that even the first night went apparently without a hitch...errant moustaches notwithstanding.

While Chelsea Viveash put in a vampy performance at Audrey II,  the decision to portray the alien-human-devouring-plant in human form was one that didn’t work and for me was one of the more out of place parts of the evening.

I also struggled with the decision to forego the tradition Skid Row drawl in favour of a mismatch of accents, which detracted from the entire proceedings.

The accent is such a fundamental part of characters like Audrey that it is hard to connect with it not being there - it’s a bit like having the Phantom without his mask.

If anything this would be the main criticism of this production; while the music was excellent, some elements of the staging were lacking - although it is easy to appreciate the challenges faced by Kira Bissex and the production team with a venue, which is not (yet) entirely suited to the demands of a full scale musical.

There were a few other gripes - the sound was far from perfect and the diction at times left a lot to be desired even without the American accents.

However, on the whole this was a welcome return for AAODS and it was great to be back in the audience with a pen in my hand, after an equally lengthy absence.