Review - Cabaret at Milton Keynes Theatre

Set at the infamous Kit Kat Club during early 1930s Berlin, it surrounds the antics of the club and the story that surrounds English girl Sally Bowles and her romance with American Clifford.

This was a difficult to sum up this show. The first half feels like you've taken some sort of hallucinogenic drugs while the second half, it becomes one of the most depressing pieces of theatre with the rise of the Nazi in Germany towards an inevitably grim conclusion.

While the set is actually quite impressive and there are one or two performances that are very good, everything else is just a bit slapdash unfortunately.

Will Young ended up mumbling a lot of his dialogue which meant you had issues working out what he was saying while Louise Redknapp is perfectly fine as Sally but it's a part which calls for someone exceptional rather than adequate.

The storyline involving Susan Penhaligon's Fraulein Schneider and Linal Haft's Herr Schultz is far more compelling and tender to watch. Especially when it breaks down.

One also gets the feeling that this is a show which is meant to be shocking, and while it might have been several years, the attempt to be shocking is limited to an inadequately covered man and a woman in just a pair of stockings and suspenders.

I came to Cabaret having never seen the film, read Christopher Isherwood's book or seen the stage show previously. After watching this production, I won't be in a rush to seek out either.

Cabaret is at Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday November 4. Call 0844 871 7652 or visit www.atgtickets.co.uk/miltonkeynes.