Dundee Fringe 2025
Helen Shapiro: Walkin’ Back
Kingdom Theatre Company
Genre: Musical Theatre
Venue: Sweet Venues at the Keiller Centre
Festival: Dundee Fringe
Low Down
A youthful and energetic musical retrospective on the life of Child Star of the 60s Helen Shapiro.
Review
We walk through the doors of the venue and find ourselves in the 1960s. On one side of the stage old fashioned school desks are set in classroom style and on the other side vintage recording equipment have been organised to create a music studio. This is the story of Helen Shapiro, who catapulted to fame at the age of 14 while still a schoolgirl. The show opens with narration and a musical number by Erin Gilliland-Patterson playing an adult Helen Shapiro, her strong vocal and the sixties styling and tone of the music lays the foundation for this musical journey. We are then taken on a trip through her life from the point of view of young Helen Shapiro, played by Lily B Martin. We are taken from the classroom where she dreams of a life as a singer, through attempts at getting signed to a record company, all the way to her biggest hit Walking Back, which gives the show its name, and stardom.
The score is a mix of original songs, written for this musical by John Murray and Willie Logan, and classic sixties numbers. Original songs are mixed with classic sixties numbers like the old standard ‘Birth of the Blues’, ‘Misery’ by the Beatles, and Shapiros own hits like ‘Walkin’ back’. The original material is well written and the tone and styling of the music very much feels of the era. All of the songs are performed to a high calibre. Stand out original numbers such as ‘Where Have All The Good Songs Gone’ really feel of the sixties and while its unreasonable to expect them to match Shapiros hits, and the Beatles they definitely stand well next to them.
From the outset it’s clear that this cast is immensely talented, their confident presence on the stage, and small mannerisms they have developed bring characters to life along side subtle background interactions really made you feel in the moment with them. On occasion you do feel that they could use a little more stage craft but always they inhabit their roles and this really kept me in the moment. Lily B Martin who played Helen Shapiro was outstanding, her vocal range is superb, her presence and the way she held herself on stage really captured Shapiro convincingly, giving you a real sense of what a shining light she was. Her chemistry with Theo Hart, who played both songwriter John Schroeder and John Lennon, was excellent. The way their changing relationship played out on stage really tied the story of Shapiros life together. From our first introduction to them as they are working on Shapiros earliest recording, to later when they are recording Shapiros big hits, their acting felt natural and their dynamic was convincing. I would have liked more context around their meeting though. I must admit that when they meet in the show you could be forgiven for thinking John Schroeder was Shapiros peer. When in fact he was 28 years old and she was a 14 year old schoolgirl. This becomes clear later in the show.
Helen Shapiros school friends were a delight to watch, playing the part of schoolgirls and close friends with aplomb. Their vocal talents synergised well with Shapiros and their appearances served as a reminder of how young the precocious Shapiro was. When on the stage they are very much in their roles, this authenticity transports you to the classroom with them.
Some technical aspects detracted from the performance in a minor way, the microphones used on stage clicked loudly when placed back on their stands, a glitching projector led to a delay in a video of Abbey Road. These moments drew attention from the music and the character interaction. The video itself was excellent, but as the only media of its kind used in this way it felt like a distraction from the scene rather than the nostalgic elevation it was intended to be, this may in part have been down to the technical difficulties, but it is hard to say. These moment didn’t last and we were back in musical reverie soon after. The strong performances and music eclipsed any minor distractions. The style, sound, and feel of this show absolutely transports you to sixties pop Britain and the cast are great. Lily B Martin is a definite star in the making, Helen Shapiro would be proud.
