Lucy McCormick: Triple Threat – Soho Theatre – Review

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According to the Collins English Dictionary, the word ‘gobsmacked’ means astounded and astonished. Personally I think this is too simplistic as we all know when we’ve been gobsmacked don’t we? Well, if you’re not too sure what it means then I would suggest you get yourself along to the Soho Theatre to see Lucy McCormick: Triple Threat and roughly an hour after the show starts, you will be 100% certain that you were gobsmacked.

Lucy and her backing team present a show that is, in effect, the New Testament, or at least the story of Jesus. Playing all the major roles herself, Lucy takes the story of the Son of God from conception, through birth, adoration, betrayal, crucifixion and finally to ascension. How she does this, I can’t tell you for two very good reasons. Firstly, Lucy McCormick: Triple Threat is definitely one of those shows that needs to be seen to be believed. Secondly, I’m not sure you would believe me if I actually told you what had happened during the show. To be honest, sitting here, I’m still not entirely sure I believe what I saw. Luckily, I had a companion with me and he and I discussed the show at great length over a pint or two afterwards.

What I can tell you is that the show involves things including underwear, Justin Bieber, coffee, hotpants, mayonnaise, Christina Aguilera, and sausages to name but a few. There is mess and there is irreverence, in fact a lot of irreverence, as Lucy and her scantily clad men skip through the New Testament. There is also some fantastically well-choreographed dancing, often in rather awkward conditions, and there is a lot of love throughout the performance.

If you wanted to search for a deep meaning to the show, then it is there. The first thing being the lack of strong female characters in the Bible. Mary Magdalene obviously is one but she is painted as a prostitute. Those of you that have read Dan Brown know he has a lot to say on this subject, but it is an interesting one. I suppose the other theme that comes out of the show is how pop culture relies on sex and sexiness and whether, in reality, this reliance on sex is necessary in order to get a message over. However, this may all be too deep for a show that is really fun from the start and may, in actual fact, be as shallow or as deep as the audience watching it.

All told, Lucy McCormick: Triple Threat is a surprising show. As a member of the audience, you literally do not know what is going to happen next, and by the time you realise, it’s too late to turn away. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this one to my mother, or if she went to see it, I wouldn’t be there on the same day, but it is definitely one to be experienced and lived. Although I thought a couple of the scenes were slightly overdrawn, I did have a thoroughly good time with Lucy and her boys and left the theatre on a real high, albeit never able to see the New Testament in quite the same way again.

Review by Terry Eastham

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