Gareth's Culture and Travel Blog

I wasn’t convinced I wanted to see this daft and somewhat twee show again, having seen a major revival 15 years ago, but blogs by the West End Whingers, Ought to be Clowns & Web Cowgirl convinced me to give it another try.

You’re presented with a scroll as you enter the auditorium for the degree ceremony which constitutes the first scene. There’s much jolly bonhomie from the actors in character as they show you to your seats – this could be completely naff, but they get away with it. What unfolds is without doubt the silliest book of any musical ever, but with lots of tongues in cheeks, you do get wrapped up and whisked away in a cloak of infectious silliness and nostalgic charm for a period you didn’t even live through!

Graduates Jane and Timothy’s journey involves a magical piano, a nightclub called Cleopatras and a flying saucer! The traverse staging, on Astroturf inside a bright yellow curtained space with a band at one end, is very effective and the performances are excellent throughout. Given it’s an opera company – Tete a Tete – the musical standards are high.

Salad Days takes you to another time and another world of musical theatre. Somewhat sickly songs like ‘Oh look at me, I’m dancing’  and ‘We’re looking for a piano’ ought to make you squirm in 2011, but somehow they make you smile. It doesn’t change your life, it’s memory will fade, but it was fun and worth a second look.