Space Family Robinson—
A Sci-Fi Musical

A '60s sci-fi TV show is transformed into a space adventure that's all singing and all dancing

	Space Family Robinson—A Sci-Fi Musical
	Written by Julian Butler, with music by Julian and Stephen Butler
	Starring Hannah Waddingham, Hadrian Delacey, Tim Barron, Helena Biggs, Stuart Piper, Laurie Hagen, Arvid Larsen and Stephen Carlile
	Pleasance Theatre, London, until May 26, 2002
	Top-price tickets: £15.00
	Call the box office at 020 7609 1800 for tickets or www.spacefamilyrobinson.com

By Mandy Slater

pace Family Robinson opens on a dystopian Earth in the year 2099, a world full of despair and a world featuring two rival factions—the Eurasians and the Puritans. The downtrodden folk are searching for something more in their humdrum existence, and the wacky Robinson family stumbles across someone who will change their lives forever.

This individual is intergalactic sex siren Starbird (Waddingham), aka the Black Widow. She's a woman who has murdered all of her former lovers but one, and now faces lifelong imprisonment in the dreaded Starbar Horizontae. But the evil dictator Nefarious (Delacey) hears of her plight and, along with his alien assistant Sakura (Larsen), jets off to rescue the sexy damsel from the prison of no escape.

Meanwhile, Starbird sends an SOS to her old flame back on Earth, Ted G. Robinson (Barron), who, along with his family, sets off into the wilds of outer space to rescue her.

Unfortunately, things don't go quite according to plan. Rather than Ted being given the ability by his old sweetheart to pilot the spacecraft and the all-important access codes to the prison, their dog Muttley (Carlile) accidentally intercepts the knowledge ray and is transformed into a superintelligent dog-man who can now pilot the craft to their destination.

On the dreaded Starbar Horizontae, the Robinson family encounters a ragtag crew of criminals and miscreants. They are separated, and Ted is once again seduced by Starbird, so she can gain the codes that will help her escape from the prison. Unfortunately for the temptress, it is the family dog who is in possession of the codes, and Robinson is less than useless.

Nefarius stumbles across the pair in a compromising position, and enacts his revenge on the leather-clad vixen. But all is not well in the cozy Robinson family, and Mom Robinson (Biggs) also finds her husband in a delicate state. Then all hell breaks loose in a madcap race to escape the prison ship.

The sound of music is lost in space

The mark of a good musical is the ability for the score to move the plot along. The story should not grind to a resounding halt just because someone is singing. Unfortunately, Space Family Robinson suffers from inappropriate music at inappropriate times. The vocal abilities of the cast range from adequate to good, but enthusiasm just cannot save the unoriginal, '70s disco-like songs. The lyrics can barely be heard above the overwhelming background music, but perhaps this would have been less of a problem in a bigger venue. However, it still can't save the simplistic plot.

From a science-fictional standpoint, there are several references to warp drives, starship troopers and the planet of Gallifrey, but buzzwords aside, the science is a mishmash of stolen ideas and trite concepts. The characters lack depth and are the worst examples of one-dimensional SF rubbish, especially the characters of Nefarius and Starbird. Doctor Who did hokey aliens far better 20 years ago!

Space Family Robinson is intended for a mature audience due to the sexual situations and language, but whether it was written as a satire or straight comedy, this disappointing cross between The Rocky Horror Show and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a perfect illustration of how a lack of original plot and lackluster music can hurt what could have been an enjoyable musical experience.