Yve Blake’s Australian musical sensation “Fangirls” has found an enthusiastic new audience in London.
The show follows 14-year-old Edna’s elaborate attempts to meet Harry, a member of the world’s biggest boy band, when he plays a show in her hometown. Through comedy and music, it challenges preconceptions about teenage girls and the power of fandom.
Blake, a playwright, screenwriter and songwriter, traces the genesis of “Fangirls” to 2015, when Zayn Malik’s departure from One Direction dominated headlines. “I noticed journalists using adjectives like ‘hysterical’ and ‘desperate’ to describe the fans, presumed to be teenage girls,” Blake recalls. This observation sparked her desire to create a show exploring fan culture through a more empathetic lens.
The result is a high-energy musical comedy that captures the intensity of adolescent fandom. “I wanted it to feel adrenaline-fueled, like a first crush,” Blake explains. “I wanted to push the form and see if I could make a musical that felt like a pop concert but was also really funny.”
When bringing “Fangirls” to the U.K., Blake and her team decided to maintain the show’s Australian setting. This choice presented unique challenges, particularly in casting actors who could convincingly portray Australian characters.
Jasmine Elcock, who plays Edna, credits her accent work to an unlikely source: “I was influenced from watching ‘Home and Away’ when I was young. My mom and I would watch it every day after school.” Elcock is a recent graduate of London’s Royal Central School of Speech and Drama who has featured in “The Crucible” and “Macbeth.”
Thomas Grant, who portrays the pop star at the center of the story, describes his character as “an amalgam of different pop stars.” While the name “Harry” inevitably evokes Harry Styles, Grant explains that his performance draws inspiration from a range of influences. “The music is actually kind of less Harry Styles and more influenced by Justin Timberlake or NSYNC,” Grant says. “It’s kind of like taking loads of bits from different pop stars or boy bands.” Grant, who trained at London’s Royal Academy of Music, has credits including playing Albus Potter in “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” and “Spring Awakening.”
Blake adds, “There’s a piece of him that’s inspired by Harry Styles, but equally by Justin Bieber. It’s interesting when people say this isn’t really like Harry Styles, and I’m like, ‘Yes, exactly.’ Because it’s not a show about Harry Styles, it’s a show about fangirls and the people they worship.”
“Fangirls” comes to London after having won multiple awards, including the 2019 Sydney Theatre Award for best mainstage musical and the 2020 AWGIE award for music theater. The London production gave Blake and director Paige Rattray the opportunity to refine the show significantly. “We changed every single scene to some extent, and about half the score,” Blake reveals. This extensive reworking has resulted in what she considers a “completely renovated show” while maintaining its core essence.
Rattray, currently the director of new work and artistic development at Sydney Theatre Company, brings a wealth of experience to the production, with credits including “Triple X” and “Deep Blue Sea.”
A key philosophy behind “Fangirls” is its adaptability to each new cast. Rather than seeking performers who can perfectly replicate previous interpretations, Blake and Rattray prioritize finding the right people for each role and then tailoring the material to showcase their unique talents. “We move the keys around and change melodies to make people shine,” Blake explains. This approach, she says, makes the show more inclusive.
The cast is pleased with the enthusiasm of London audiences. “It’s so fun,” Grant says. “Everyone’s had permission to go mad and give that madness and chaos back. There’s a lot of etiquette in theater — it’s nice to sometimes throw that out the window and give people a really good night that they can contribute to as well.” Elcock adds that the audience’s energy has been crucial to the show’s impact: “It makes me realize how much this show needs an audience to be captivated, surprised, shocked, to laugh or cry.”
Blake, an alumna of the Royal Court Writers’ Program and a TEDx speaker whose talk on “Fangirls” has over 1.4 million views, is delighted with British theatergoers’ willingness to participate in the show’s interactive elements. “The Brits have been wild. It’s so exciting,” Blake says.
As “Fangirls” continues its London run, Blake is already looking ahead to new projects, including a screen adaptation of “Fangirls” with Fremantle, a rom-com and horror-themed musical and various film and television ventures. For now, however, she’s reveling in the show’s success and the opportunity it provides.
“I’m just so happy that I can pay my bills making silly rhymes and sitting in a cafe thinking, ‘What rhymes with tampon?'” she quips. “These are good days.”
“Fangirls” is a co-production between Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and Sonia Friedman Productions. It was developed with support from the Australian Theatre for Young People, Belvoir St Theatre, Queensland Theatre, Brisbane Festival, the Barbican Theatre Open Lab, the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and Global Creatures. It is on at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre through Aug. 24.
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