Spongebob Squarepants: The Sponge Who Could Fly

February 18, 2009

Date reviewed: 17 February 2009

Sublime? Ridiculous? I’ve been to both ends of the spectrum this week. But if you’d asked me before Flashdance or Brief Encounter what I was likely to enjoy most, I doubt I’d have been saying Spongebob Squarepants. But the reality is that this is a fabulous, fun-filled freak of a show with all the anarchic, off-the-wall humour of its cartoon original and a bunch of great songs besides.

Neatly timed to run at a child-friendly 90-odd minutes, it’s packed with all the wacky characters of Bikini Bottom (if you don’t have an under-10 you can skip this bit), from a lovable Patrick to a rather worryingly accurate Squidward, with Spongebob himself cavorting merrily in those square pants – and sometimes out of them – in his quest to fulfil his dream of flying with the jellyfish in Jellyfish Fields.

Mr Krabs, owner of the Krusty Krab, gets the best musical number, with a fantastic Broadway-style routine about the mighty dollar, entitled Kerching! But there are plenty of other smart and sassy songs sprinkled liberally through the production, raising it to a quality level far above your average children’s show. All the things that make the Nickelodeon TV series so outstanding – the high production values, the perfectly judged puerile humour, the sharp wit to please the grown-ups – are replicated in this stage version.

I’d love to be able to give credit to the utterly dedicated 10-strong cast and superb crew who make the two-dimensional characters live and breathe, but unfortunately there is neither a programme nor a cast list available. They will have to take their plaudits in anonymity. Suffice it to say that Spongebob Squarepants, against all expectations, snuck in and stole the title of Highlight of the Week. Now, all together: Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

- Michael Davies