By Hannah Fortune and Soliha Akramova
The Gaudie were very graciously invited to watch Hen Night Horror at the Tivoli theatre. Hen night horror is a comedy musical written by Fraser Boyle and Ali Cleland. It was shown at Tivoli theatre for two nights and now it moves on to Dundee and Glasgow for Halloween weekend. We went in not really knowing what to expect but we can honestly say it blew us away.
The show follows three women on a hen night getaway in the highlands, Jennifer Neil plays the bride to be (Amanda), Hannah Howie is the maid of honour (Donna) and Dani Herron as the bridesmaid (Lydia). The trio are in a cabin in the woods in an unnamed location in the highlands.
There is some initial conflict with Lydia accusing Donna of hiding things and Donna accusing Lydia of being jealous. The relationship between the woman was a painfully relatable depiction of only really speaking to that one person because you have a mutual friend.
The tensions heighten when a man in a yellow jacket appears outside and flashes the women which immediately spooks them and the audience. The night does not get better after a man clad in latex and a mask ( Mr Jefferies played by Alan Orr) appears and forces the maid of honour to admit that she’s recently been licensed as a dominatrix and the hen night is being funded by the man who has paid to observe them. Mischief ensues and the man accidentally breaks the brides’ phone leading to her smashing him over the head with a wine bottle and killing him.
As the women rush to hide the body a policeman(played by Matthew Mckenna) appears at the door and they let him in after inspecting his ID, they tell him about the yellow man in the window and he in a musical number reveals that there is a serial killer on the loose who escaped from a nearby prison using a guard’s uniform.
What ensues next can only be described as the most hilarious murder perhaps ever witnessed on stage, the man in latex is revealed to be in fact very much alive, but not for long as the man in the yellow jacket returns and stabs him to death with the man’s last words being his safe word ‘NIGEL FARAGE, NIGEL FARAGE, NIGEL FARAGEEEE’.
As the power comes back on the women return to the stage, and just in time for the policeman to come back hurtling through the door bleeding out from a stab wound, upon closer inspection they realise that his jacket’s inner lining is… you guessed it yellow!
He jumps up and in typical villain fashion reveals that it is him that is the serial killer who escaped from prison, but he won’t kill them oh no, after all he doesn’t even know them!. In timely fashion the man in latex emerges and reveals that he is still alive, meanwhile the trio have the freak out of a century as the curtain falls.
Having gone into this show with no expectations I think we can happily say that we were thoroughly dazzled with the showmanship and the quality of the script, not to even talk of the performers who wholeheartedly brought the show to life ( I know this is a cliche but I really do mean it this time I pinky promise).
The show was a genuinely delightful surprise and we were fully immersed in not only the plot but the talent on display! Dani Herron’s lydia was a particular stand out for us for her hilarious performance.
We spoke to Fraser Boyle who said “The audiences in Aberdeen were fantastic, and we’ve had some amazing feedback from people who came along. It’s always lovely to hear that the show has connected with audiences and brought them so much laughter. That is ultimately why we do it – we all need a good laugh, every now and then! It’s the best medicine. We hope to come back to Aberdeen in the future, with the next hen night horror tour.”
