Bend It Like Beckham was the first West End production that we saw as a group, and it was only the second big West End/Broadway that I have ever seen. I am a bit spoiled because the other show that I have seen of this magnitude was The Book of Mormon, which is arguably the most critically acclaimed show playing in all of London. I can without a doubt say that Bend It Like Beckham was not near as good as The Book of Mormon, but it was very entertaining nonetheless.
The major thing that stood out to me about Bend It Like Beckham was the lights. I might be a bit biased after the lighting designer spoke to us about the show and gave us a small tour of the stage, but I really thought the lights made the production actually bearable. The show was very visually appealing. It was very bright and colorful and easy to look at. I absolutely loved the parts of the show where the lights on the seven triangular swiveling set pieces were the red and white stripes of Manchester United. Having said this, I will say that it is probably hard to light a show that just is not very good, so I give kudos to the lighting designer. I think he was hinting at the show being pretty poor in our discussion, but I do think that the visual production was well done.
As far as the music, sound effects, and the storyline goes, I thought it was pretty poor. The storyline was weak and very flat, and it seemed as though the director tried to cover up the shallowness of it with this huge production. I felt like the bright, shiny lights and cheesy show tunes were a facade for the lack of character development and plot action. That is one major difference with this West End show that we haven't seen in the other shows. Shows and plays at the National Theatre and other non West End theatres actually have a plot and dynamic characters that the audience can get invested in. They have themes that can teach the audience something or challenge their thoughts. This show had none of that, and that is why it sucked.
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