Scissorhandz – Review

Scissorhandz: Southwark Playhouse Elephant, London

1st February 2025

★★★★★

Direct from a successful run in LA, Scissorhandz bills itself as a ‘radical, raucous, joyful yet touching musical parody tribute to the ultimate outsider’. It is produced by the iconic Michelle Visage and *NSYNC’s Lance Bass as audiences are invited to celebrate Tim Burton’s beloved hero/weirdo with a phenomenal selection of 90s and 00s hits.

There are no weak links in this cast, with each actor performing excellently. Having starred as Scissorhands in three sold-out runs in Hollywood, Jordan Kai-Burnett manages to make the character loveable yet disturbingly creepy at the same time and Emma Williams is superb as Peg bringing a warmth and strength to the character. Lauren Jones’ vocals are on point throughout and she is able to show a thousand emotions in her wonderful performance as Kim. Tricia Adele-Turner, Annabelle Terry and Ryan O’Connor are utterly hilarious, vibrant and as camp as can be. The interactions with the audience are hysterical and O’Connor is particularly good at improvising during the side splitting television interview scene.

Scissorhandz is upbeat, fun and hilariously quirky. The songs are performed brilliantly with new arrangements by Gregory Nabours. With a mix of well known songs such as ‘Heaven Is A Place On Earth’, ‘Stronger’, ‘I’m Every Woman’ and ‘Best Day of my Life’ it sounds like it would be a complete car crash of a show when put with Tim Burton’s cult film, but somehow every song choice works! They don’t feel shoe-horned in at all and fit the script perfectly with both heartwarming and comical effect. To top it off the new arrangements feature some gorgeous harmonies and, in some cases, change the meaning of the songs completely. By the end of the show the audience are fully invested and joining along.

This is an absolutely great night out. Fun, fresh and original – Scissorhandz manages to mix hilarious characters with a heart felt message of acceptance. Whether you know the Tim Burton original or not – this is a superb show not to be missed.

Scissorhandz runs at the Southwark Playhouse Elephant until the 29th March 2025. For information and tickets click here.

Photo Credit: Danny Kaan