Theatre Review: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat - King's Theatre, Glasgow ✭✭✭

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat  

King's Theatre, Glasgow 

Review by Siobhan Brennan

You’d have to travel some distance to find a person without at least a fleeting knowledge of some of the songs from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and even further to find one who isn’t familiar with the biblical tale of Joseph and his (less flamboyantly named) coat of many colours. It’s a story that has been around for thousands of years and a musical that has been around for over four decades – which makes the fact that last night’s production felt fresh and modern even more impressive. 

For the rare few who are unfamiliar with the Genesis tale, it follows Jacob and his twelve sons, of whom Joseph is his favourite. This favouritism coupled with Joseph’s dreams of his family one day bowing down to him did little to endear him to his brothers. When Jacob made Joseph a multi-coloured coat this proved to be the last straw, and his brothers sold him into slavery and told his father he had died. 

You perhaps wouldn’t expect hilarity to ensue following these events, but in this production it did. The costumes, props and set pieces were comical and definitely unexpected - an Elvis impersonator and gang of cowboys and cowgirls were especially surprising.  The set made best use of the space given and although some of the props would definitely not have been around in biblical times, they filled the stage with colour, life and humour.

Ian 'H' Watkins as Joseph

Ian ‘H’ Watkins was a great choice as Joseph and can clearly adapt to the roles of both pop star and theatre star with ease. His vocals were impressive throughout but particularly shone during Close Every Door To Me. Jennifer Potts dealt well with the demanding role of the narrator. Barely leaving the stage she played a pivotal part of the story telling, helping to guide younger members of the audience through the various twists and turns. Also impressive were the eleven brothers who had so much energy and really worked well together playing many of the roles. Many of the laughs came from their antics and the actors even managed to make the ‘baddies’ likeable.

There's no denying the music is very catchy and uplifting (even during the darker parts of the show) however the opening and the finale were longer than necessary and personally 3 rounds of 'Any Dream Will Do' was too much.

Joseph is undeniably a family show and well suited for kids. This particular production was by no means flawless, but everyone can take something away from the messages of hope and love and I defy anyone to leave this production not grinning from ear to ear.

Three Stars ✭✭✭

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat is at the King's Theatre until Saturday 7th September. For tickets and information visit www.atgtickets.com/glasgow