By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN? Sunday 21 June, opens 24 June and runs through 22 August 2026 RUNTIME: 90 minutes (no interval)

We really weren’t expecting to love this new musical as much as we did and we wonder whether it is its creators’ fondness for the awkward British humour of Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and the Pythons that won us over.

• Read on for reasons including how, if you’re looking for a dark horse musical that’s a bit edgy, eerie yet a wild experience, come Ride The Cyclone!

The idea feels like it was ripped from a US romcom/horror film of the 80s or 90s with Divina de Campo (RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, London Palladium) playing a Max Headroom-ish, mechanical fortune telling fairground machine which can predict when people die.

She’s already forecast her own demise at the top of the show but the performance consists of the 5 school choir members who perish when they ride the titular Cyclone rollercoaster alongside a mysterious Jane Doe pleading to be the 1 person saved alive from the rubble.

We listened to the score before and the genius of the songs only revealed themselves in the telling of the story but there are plenty of highlights particularly in the way that this talented ensemble performs the life out of them.

We particularly enjoyed the character work of ‘angriest boy in town’ Bartek Kraszewski as Mischa performing the hip hop-ish This Song Is Awesome while explaining how he came to be here from Ukraine and also about his long-distance love during Talia.

Noel Gruber played by Josh Butler sings of his love of French cinema and Marlene Dietrich while being the only gay in town during a fabulously expressive Noel’s Lament.

De Campo sits above the stage throughout proceedings which is a fairground quirk which works especially at this venue because it is so high. She also does great work establishing essentially what is going on as the narrator or Amazing Karnak.

De Campo manages to be both a compelling and an extremely dry-witted compere for what could have been a far more sombre occasion in different hands.

There’s also a nice point of difference between the girl classmates with 1 being an eccentric overachiever and the other being the typical hometown girl with a dark immediate past.

We’re in the front row of the Elephant sitting immediately next to an entrance with the cast regularly brushing past us which adds to the immersion of the piece.

If you’re looking for a dark horse musical that’s a bit edgy, eerie yet a wild experience, come Ride The Cyclone!

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Southwark Playhouse (Elephant) Tickets
• Have you seen a Ride The Cyclone before and what did you think of this it? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
• Enjoyed this preview? Follow monstagigz on Twitter @NeilDurham, email neildurham3@gmail.com and check us out on Instagram and Facebook