A new musical with a leading character responding to a motor neurone diagnosis could easily fall into the trap of being too light or maudlin. Supersonic Man, written and directed by Chris Burgess, takes the musical/comedy route.
In 2020, a Channel 4 documentary on Peter Scott Morgan, Peter: The Human Cyborg, followed a journey to conquer MND with robotics, pre-emptive surgery, and AI. This inspired Burgess to develop Supersonic Man, setting it in hedonistic gay Brighton.
Adam (Dylan Aiello) and Darryl (Dominic Sullivan) are a young couple out for a good time. Adam is the flamboyant one of the pair; Darryl more cautious. When Adam, life and soul of the party, loses feeling in his toes, it quickly becomes clear much more is wrong.
After a period of caustic depression, Adam sets out to prove the medical experts wrong by engaging boffins and private hospitals to experiment in developing the means to keep his body going. A TV documentary follows each step.
With 18 songs supporting the story as it becomes increasingly fantastic, Supersonic Man has a cheeky, upbeat feel at first but then, as Adam declines despite all the interventions, it moves into more reflective mode.
Mali Wen Davies makes an assured professional theatre debut as the pair’s bubbly friend Shaz and the acerbic documentary producer. I enjoyed both characterisations and her energy.
Aiello is memorable as the exhausting Adam, even if at times you wish for Darryl to tip him out of his wheelchair (while empathising with their journey). Sullivan captures both the loss of a lover and the frustration of a carer while delivering excellent vocals.
Jude St James and James Lowrie round out the cast with style and commitment as pals Ruth and Ben, and other characters. The three supporting actors often sit in the audience while Philip Joel’s choreography gets the action very close to those in the front.
Richard Lambert’s lighting captures a range of emotions; after all this is a tale about a young man facing terminal illness. The set by David Shields has a huge seaside poster and inflatable seagulls who rise and fall, echoing Adam’s cheeky personality.
Supersonic Man may not be for everyone, and the balance between light and dark does tread a very tense tightrope at times, but I think it landed on the right side.
I’m giving this 4 stars.
Supersonic Man is at Southwark Playhouse Borough’s Little until 3 May – tickets here.
Image credit: Louis Burgess