The Girl From Mars - Crescent Theatre

Just off Broad Street, Birmingham, The Crescent Theatre brought 90s indie hits back on Saturday, with anthems from Oasis, Pulp, Blue, Supergrass, Republica, Kula Shaker and many more. All of which are embedded into an intergalactic sex comedy story.

With its inspiration drawn from 1954`s B-Movie The Devil Girl From Mars and 1991`s The Girl From Mars, the story begins with a martian dominatrix called Nyah, who plans on kidnapping earth men for breeding, after crashing her flying saucer behind a pub in Bedfordshire. Things might not go quite as she planned though when locals Sally, the barmaid, and Leon, the wannabe rock star, learn of her intentions.

Natasha Temperley, who played martian Nyah, was well suited to her role, with a strong dominant presence whilst on the stage. The songs were very much suited to her voice and she gave a particularly impressive performance of Radiohead`s Creep. Leon, played by Niall Walsh, and Sally played by Julia Collar, worked well as a duo together. They delivered comically and vocally with great duets. All three gave solid vocal performances and despite some technical issues in the first half, this was handled well.

Whilst the set was basic with its 90s touches, it worked well at being both B-Movie style and capturing the decade. This was also enhanced by the costumes, including various fashion pieces such as striped tracksuit tops, flairs and lots of union jjacks!

The humour and references made in the writing also helped evoke the 90s nostalgia, with nods to Friends, Men in Black and The Matrix. Plus, the addition of two burlesque dancers allowed for 90s choreography to be weaved into the narrative, with moves from Spice Girls and All Saints recreated on stage.

A live 5 piece band took centre stage with their musical abilities clearly on display. The band members also contributed lines to the show, which was a touch that helped to move the show along and added extra sprinkles of comedy.

Towards the end the audience were singing the hits and we were all dancing and clapping along!