The critical incident in Ride the Cyclone has already happened before the narrative kicks in: The Cyclone is a rollercoaster ride. Or at least, it was, until a fatal accident takes the lives of whoever was on it at the time. Step forward The Amazing Karnak (Edward Wu), the closest thing to a narrator the show has (without, that is, being a narrator at all), who informs the audience that his own time is limited because a rat that has been chewing away at electric wires for some time will shortly chew through a main power supply feed and electrocute itself, sealing its fate, and that of Karnak.
A bizarre beginning if ever there was one, the show gets even weirder. The easiest character to understand was Jane Doe (Grace Galloway), so called because she was the newest member of the Saint Cassian Chamber Choir of Uranium City but couldn’t be identified after death partly because the choirmaster died of a heart attack shortly after hearing the tragic news, but mostly because she was decapitated in the rollercoaster derailment. This is one of several narrative reasons why more than the usual amount of suspension of disbelief is required – did Jane really have no friends or family who enquired about her in the days and weeks following? Do they not have DNA in Canada, where the show is set?
According to Karnak, the six dead teenagers have the opportunity to come back to life, but only one is able to do so, by way of unanimous vote. Except Karnak changes his own rules as though he were a parliamentarian, which justifies cries of unfairness from the teens. This being a musical, they can’t just go straight to a vote, so a song contest of sorts takes place, which was a narrative device to provide some details about each of the high school pupils. Except some of the ensuing songs were easier to get one’s head around than others. I still have no idea, for example, what ‘Space Age Bachelor Man’ was about, and it didn’t really tell me anything about Ricky Potts (Jack Maverick) except one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, or a human being by their personal characteristics. But, of course, we already know that in this day and age.
Quirkiness and a warped sense of logic and the natural laws of nature aside, the production values are pretty decent. Lizzi Gee’s choreography is energetic, without being exhausting to watch, and if anyone had said to me beforehand that I was about to witness a stage revolve in the Southwark Playhouse I wouldn’t have believed them. Well, there is one. Tom Marshall’s sound design ensures a good balance between the band and the cast, the latter’s singing voices being in fine form as they rattle through a wide variety of musical genres, including French chanson, thanks to Noel Gruber (Damon Gould), the only gay in his village (to paraphrase Little Britain) and Ukrainian rap, courtesy of Mischa Bachinski (Bartek Kraszewski). The show premiered in Canada in 2009, some years before Russia’s ‘special military operation’ began in 2022.
The two shows I heard it being compared to afterwards were Cats and The Rocky Horror Show – except I’m not sure Ride the Cyclone is outrageous enough to justify a likening to the latter. I can understand the former, as the narrative arc is broadly similar. (Briefly, for readers who haven’t seen Cats, one cat gets the chance to ascend and be reborn into a new life, but not before there have been a whole load of songs sung by a whole load of cats. Substitute ‘cat’ for ‘teenager’, and you have Ride the Cyclone.) There’s a consistent reliance on a demonstration of how abnormal each of the characters are, which makes for bemusing, if not exactly amusing, theatre. In the end, though, it held my attention throughout. Strangely delightful and beautifully devoid of sentimentality, it’s a baffling yet boisterous production.
Review by Chris Omaweng
When a freak roller coaster accident claims the lives of six teens, they find themselves trapped in limbo and offered one last shot at life. One by one, they step into the spotlight to prove why they deserve a second chance at life.
Ride the Cyclone is a genre-defying journey through big dreams, dark secrets, and the search for what makes a life well-lived.
It’s not a game. It’s just a ride.
CAST
Baylie Carson – Ocean O’Connell Rosenberg
Grace Galloway – Jane Doe
Robyn Gilbertson – Constance Blackwood
Damon Gould – Noel Gruber
Bartek Kraszewski – Mischa Bachinski
Jack Maverick – Ricky Potts
Edward Wu – The Amazing Karnak
Rebecca D’Lacey, Nathaniel Purnell – Understudies
CREATIVES
Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell – Book, Music and Lyrics
Lizzi Gee – Director and Choreographer
Ryan Dawson-Laight – Set and Costume Designer
Ben McQuigg – Musical Director
Tim Deiling – Lighting Designer
Nina Dunn – Video Designer
Tom Marshall – Sound Designer
Richard Pinner – Illusion Designer
Dominic Skinner – Make-Up Designer
Harry Blumenau CDG – Casting Director
Eva Sampson – Associate Director
Jenny Deacon – Assistant Musical Director
Christophe Eyndhe – Associate Set Designer
Sharon Williams – Costume Supervisor
Props by Eve – Props Supervisor
Deborah Garvey – Vocal Coach
Kevin McCollum, Morris Berchard and Jack Maple present
RIDE THE CYCLONE
Southwark Playhouse Elephant
14 November 2025 to 10 January 2026
