THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2024

All Growed Up
Photo: Chris Hill

The third in the trilogy of musicals adapted from author Tony Macaulay's memoirs, All Growed Up, written and directed by Dean Johnson with music by Shauna Carrick, musical direction from Adam Darcy and choreography from Gyasi Sheppy, is a collaborative corker of a production. It builds brilliantly on the highs attained in predecessors Paperboy and Breadboy by positively unifying a multitude of elements into a piece which simply sparkles with life, invention and relatability in so many places, with the main stage of Belfast's Lyric an expressive, emotive arena for the latest generation of the British Youth Music Theatre.

At the centre of All Growed Up is the local, national and international popular culture that inspires and influences where we go, what we do and who we meet – which, in the case of young Tony (a winning Dara McNaughton), is mostly in and around the time he attends the University Of Ulster at Coleraine in the 1980s. Colour vividly defines both the ongoings at hand and Jida Akil's set & costume design, in which a handful of lit-up insignias at the top of the stage stir up nostalgic warmth. Among said insignias are those of Samson or Goliath (take your pick), the old Northern Ireland Railways logo, and an ice cream that brings back memories of family trips to Morelli's in Portstewart. Portstewart and Portrush may not have been the biggest places in the world, but they were everything to our youthful years – the interludes from educational lives where imagination was only strengthened.

The possibilities for Johnson, his cast and crew with this setting seem limitless – and the ensemble take them on with earnest, transcendent charm, the humorous, thoughtful and dramatic frequently emerging from the show's literary and visual aspects. And the bond between Tony and then girlfriend, now wife Lesley (a wonderful Eva Beveridge) is strong and real – it doesn't read as a matter of conflicting momentary lust with unconditional love, but rather a blossoming from the challenging contradictions and consequence of youthful desire into sturdy connectivity.

When I see All Growed Up, I see spontaneous theatre wed to steady progress - an artistic union that excites and edifies, an instance of developing awareness for all ages to appreciate. Watching Tony and Lesley, as one of Carrick's many catchy tunes puts it, "take on the world", alongside the vibrant energy of the characters around them, is like experiencing the short-term allure and the long-term foundations of a relationship with a partner, a friend, a sibling, a parent, a grandparent, a guardian, a vocation and society. All Growed Up is a story of unexpected bliss and sudden blows, but also trust and calm - dazzling as pure entertainment and extraordinary in both ruminating on and revealing how and why everyone dares to dream to begin with. As the legendary Stephen Sondheim might put it, we've had time to look, time to learn and time to care – and we have found that there is a place for us, somehow, someday, somewhere.

Simon Fallaha

All Growed Up ran at Belfast's Lyric Theatre from Friday August 2 to Sunday August 4, and will be screened tomorrow, Friday August 23, at Coleraine's Riverside Theatre. For more information on the screening, click here.