The Fit Prince ★★★★★

It’s been hard to miss the meteoric rise of Awkward Productions in recent years. Linus Karp and Joseph Martin have gone from new twinks on the block to must-see twinks with their unique, idiosyncratic and deliciously queer takes on various cultural behemoths. Whether it has been finding the Jellicle in the much-reviled 2019 film adaptation of the musical Cats, giving the late Princess of Wales a happy ending in Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story or exposing the star-studded absurdity of that infamous court case in Gwyneth Goes Skiing, they have been able to spot the zeitgeist and turn it into theatrical gold.

What all of these shows have in common is a built-in recognition factor so definite, it can be summed up in a single word: Cats, Diana, Gwyneth… But there is a slight difference in their latest venture, The Fit Prince. Rather than tackling a pop-culture moment, their new show explores a pop-culture concept: the world of holiday-based rom-com movies, the ones on Netflix where the main characters meet, have an instant mutual dislike but get together at the end to the surprise of absolutely no-one. Yes, Awkward Prods are queering the Vanessa Hudgens’ multiverse (as if it wasn’t queer enough already).

The story of – to give its full title – The Fit Prince (who gets switched on the square in the frosty castle the night before (insert public holiday here)) takes us to the land of Swedonia where the King Lembrekt III has died. In order to ascend to the throne, Prince Elias (played by Karp, who has really nailed the Swedonian accent) must marry before the next public holiday which, for convenient jeopardy, happens in this case to be Midsummer in two weeks’ time. As same-sex marriage has been legal in Swedonia since the 12th century, the prince sets out to find his husband. Meanwhile, in New York, Aaron Butcher (Martin) is running his struggling family bakery business. His work colleague and best friend Jenny Puppetson (yes, she’s a puppet) contrives to get him out of his funk from splitting up with his cheating boyfriend. She snaffles him the commission to bake the wedding cake for the Prince’s forthcoming nuptials…

If anyone were in any doubt that doing an original story might blunt the Awkward Prods vibe, far from it. The Fit Prince sees Linus and Joseph firing on all cylinders. From Diana onwards, they’ve had members of the audience play various supporting roles – but for this show, there are more audience characters than ever before. While this is potentially risky, making actual plot points dependent on members of the public, it enables Karp and Joseph’s skill at improvisation to come to the fore. The fact that the audience member playing one rather scheming character earned boos at the performance The Recs attended demonstrates how successful their interactive sections have become.

Another trademark of the Awkward Prods’ catalogue of shows are the cameo appearances on video by some famous faces. The Fit Prince‘s digital cast is seriously impressive: Grammy-nominated pop star Tove Lo plays The Prime Minister of Swedonia, Heartstopper‘s Sebastian Croft stars as Prince Balthazar of Bashington, Young Royals‘ Malte Gårdinger as Prince Carsten of Markden, Pose‘s Jeremy McClain gives a hilariously partying Prince Laurie of New York City, Operation Mincemeat‘s Geri Allen once more as the Queen of England and Drag Race UK‘s Kate Butch as a deeply-earnest Angela Merkel.

While these cameos will be familiar and appeal to a younger demographic, The Fit Prince remains inclusive to all. There is an unexpected (or perhaps not that unexpected) interlude where *SPOILER WARNING* ABBA are lampooned as the Swedonian band BAAB. “They’re much more popular abroad”. With songs such as The Loser Gets Nothing and Should Your Opinion Shift, it proves you are never too old or too sane for an Awkward Production show.

And while they have included puppetry in their shows for some time – the monstrous, growling rag doll Camilla in Diana and the hilarious, delusional Kristin VanOrman in Gwyneth – they have ramped up their creativity for The Fit Prince. Enter Gerta McMurder! A looming life-sized puppet who runs the orphanage outside the castle walls. Imagine the old hag disguise of the Evil Queen in Snow White (the original Snow White, not the Gal Gadot cringefest) with a touch of the Skeksis from the Dark Crystal films. With a credible Scottish accent and beautifully puppeteered by Joseph Martin (while his other character Aaron is conveniently in the bathroom), she is not only mesmerising, she is placed front and centre to sing a gorgeous heartfelt ballad (written by Leland). “These beds have seen tears fall on pillows, all their broken souls” tug at the emotions before she warns an orphan ‘You wait till I get my hands on you, you little shite!’

The Fit Prince takes the expected elements of an Awkward Prods show – the video cameos, the audience participation, the pop culture references – but fuses them effortlessly with a traditional fairytale sensibility. As a viewer, you’ll find yourself laughing along with a very well-crafted pantomime one minute, and then willing the two leads to get together with an overinvestment that only the best rom-coms can evoke.

Proving once again that these theatre creators have a unique voice, The Fit Prince is their best show yet. Awkward Prods reign supreme.