Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch

Ursula is undoubtedly an iconic villain, she is full of attitude, confidence and dark magic. Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch is a parody musical from Fat Rascal which tells us the origin story of the world famous octopus. Following sell out runs at Edinburgh Fringe, Unfortunate is making it’s home at Southwark Playhouse Elephant until January before heading out on a UK tour. 

This show is full of catchy songs, great choreography and brilliant puppets too. The show opens in ‘Atlantica’ a city which in Ursula’s words is ‘a mix of the Barbie movie and the Hitler Youth’. We meet a young Ursula who falls in love and then due to some foul play from a certain crab...she is banished to the dark waters. 

Shawna Hamic is outstanding as Ursula, relishing in being bad Shawna gives us the perfect mix of vulnerability early on before transitioning into the powerful witch. 

The performance of the night comes from Allie Dart playing Sebastian as well as some ensemble roles. Allie is a wonderful performer who makes us laugh out loud with their physicality and comic timing. 

The design of this show has received some upgrades since it’s time at Edinburgh Fringe with fly’s being used in hilarious ways and large puppets bringing life to the less savoury creatures of the sea. The set is made to look like a ship which of course fits well with the setting. Abby Clarke has done as incredible job with every element of the design of the show. 

The songs are where this show really shines, with hit numbers such as ‘Sucking on you’, ‘We Didn’t Make it to Disney’ and ‘Hot Girl Summer’ this is definitely not a show for kids. This is an adult retelling of the story we’ve come to know. In particular River Medway performing ‘Where the Dicks Are’ is a perfect parody song, River gives a fantastic performance here, really understanding the ridiculous-ness of the song she gives it her all and shines. 

The entire cast does well in this show, most playing lead roles and multiple ensemble roles as well it really is a team effort to make this show what it is. The humour is very close to the line, and often just over it without ever being offensive and the cast do a fantastic job of taking the audience on their journey under the sea! 

The only down side of this show is that it doesn’t end differently. The beginning teases that Ursula doesn’t die at the end of The Little Mermaid so as a self proclaimed Ursula Superfan it would be nice to see a little bit of her future played out, where does she go from here? What happens next? 

Overall this is a great show and definitely one to watch if you’re looking for a hilarious night out. It will have you laughing from start to finish. 

Unfortunate is playing at the Southwark Playhouse Elephant until February 17th 2024 before heading on a tour of the UK. 

Tickets available now: Home | Unfortunate Musical

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