Thomas Harris reviews The Quentin Dentin Show…
The Tristan Bates Theatre, where The Quentin Dentin Show, a broadly glam, charmingly hokey science-fiction come modern morality tale, currently occupies a month residency is not twenty seconds walk from the looming monolith Palace Theatre. So close in fact, that whilst awaiting the performance and during rare moments of respite, the flash and whizz bang of cameras and the gobbledygook wizard jargon began to bleed in, a rather bizarre occurrence. Yet all the grandiose glamour and high-tech wizardry from over the road couldn’t distract from the shimmering charm of Quentin Dentin.
Plotting is rather dense. It errs wildly between science fiction indebted as much to the work of Devo – to the credit of composer Henry Carpenter-as it does to The Rocky Horror Picture Show (of which it borrows with occasional subtlety) and rather standard talent show clichés. Yet, while there may be certain tonal instability in its manic pacing and genre pushing, it never loses its charm.
Designer Alice Simonato uses limited space smartly, clearly dictating the performance through simple uses of doorways and a single sofa. This limited space in lesser hands could result in choreography possibly shambolic, but Caldonia Walton finds a way to bring scope to the movement.
There is also clear cohesion between cast members. Luke Lane, playing the title role, (imagine a John Borrowman type without the grating ego) brings pathos and charm in buckets. His role is a tough one; a robot with recently gained sentience struggling with his own morality whilst finding certain joy in playing God. He is a natural, never flustered by the emotional scope of Quentin.
Similarly, Shauna Riley and Max Panks – effectively Quentin’s play things – manage to find depth in roles that maybe suffer from being underwritten. In fact, support roles across the board impress. Freya Tilly and Lottie-Daisy Francis sing and dance through roles that change wildly, neither of which are ever flustered. There’s certain joy in watching a cast bounce off one another with aplomb.
Where the show succeeds most is in Henry Carpenter’s delightful musical ode to the 80s. Songs are reminiscent of everything from Devo to Elton John and David Bowie at his absolutely most glam. There’s even a rather strange nod to Radiohead that induced a number of giggles from the audience.
It’s a shame then that the performance was marred by technical difficulties-not to the fault of the cast. Faulty microphones affected certain songs, including a delightful solo by Freya Tilly, but the cast simply carried on. These problems are few and far between, and as with any show descending on a new space, technical issues are to be expected.
The Quentin Dentin Show is a musical bright and bold, unabashed in its adoration for all things glam, all things gold. It would be a shame to give a show this fantastically entertaining a miss.
The Quentin Dentin Show is showing at the Tristan Bates Theatre until 29th July.
Thomas Harris
Originally published June 28, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
