Review by John Lombard
A shoe may be the most beautiful thing in the world. But when love, identity and destiny are all balanced on a stiletto heel, it’s also the most important thing in the world.
Kinky Boots is the story of Charlie Price (Martin Everett), reluctant heir to English shoe factory Price and Sons. Competition from cheap and shoddy imports threatens to shutter the family factory and turf the workers onto the street. But a chance encounter between Charlie and drag queen Lola (Rania Potaka-Osborne) inspires a new product that could save the business: fetish footwear.
With book by Harvey Fierstein and music by 80s icon Cyndi Lauper, this fresh musical transforms a struggling shoe factory into a glam carnival. Director Derek Walker tells the story with a gentle but certain touch, with the emphasis on kindness rather than clash.
Martin Everett as Charlie is likeable and sings with an enticing smoothness. Charlie has been raised for success and only has to sit on the throne others have built for him, but Everett finds the note of compassion necessary for us to accept this fortunate son as the hero.
Inevitably, Rania Potaka-Osborne steals the show as Lola. Potaka-Osborne is a sublime dancer, and their Lola is bold but with a lurking vulnerability. Like Cleopatra, Potaka-Osborne knows how to make an entrance, and deserved the whooping cheers from the audience whenever they defiantly claimed the stage.
The comic highlights belong to Brittanie Shipway as the lovestruck Lauren, flaring like gunpowder and with a talent for physical comedy that would melt the heart of Inspector Clouseau. Her costume was slightly too childish, and it would have been better to trust this aspect of the character to the performer.
In the supporting cast, Peter Dark was perfectly cast as the kind but ominous Mr Price. Tim Stiles gave a nuanced and well-considered performance as the play’s only real antagonist, the he-man Don, softening his villain turn in To Kill A Mockingbird earlier this year. Michael Heming delighted with his deadpan delivery as genteel shoe scientist George, carrying himself like an angel with divine responsibility for footwear. Hannah Lance gave Charlie's fiance Nicola refreshing energy and charm.
The drag queen ensemble came through, with fierce performances by David Santolin, Jordan Kelly, Lachy Agett, Alexander Thorpe, Ashley Jefrreys, and Garret Kelly. Costume designer Fiona Leach was obviously delighted to paint this canvas in sparkle and tinsel.
Cate Clelland supplied an evocative and clever set design, with wheeled components enabling swift scene changes.
At core, this is a love story between Charlie and Lola, but there is little friction between the two leads: there is no danger of any spark starting a fire. Instead, the primal energy that should drive their partnership is stuffed into conflict between the Lola and Don, protecting Charlie from having any inconvenient feelings that might derail the plot.
Parts of the story are lazy: Charlie becoming draconian as he pushes his team feels like a scene from The Mighty Ducks, and temptation by property developers is realistic but a trope that belongs to Muppet movies.
For a musical that styles itself kinky, this is actually wholesome entertainment, going as far as setting out specific rules for liking yourself and being nice to people. Cyndi Lauper’s music swaddles like velvet, and hostility to Lola and the drag queens comes not from the community but from a few malcontents. The production lives the play’s message of kindness and acceptance, without the fire of passion but with the warmth of love.
If you’re going to change the world, it's one sole at a time.