.png)
REVIEW | (BYMT) Worn Out, The Lowry - Salford
- Harry Brogan
- Aug 2
- 3 min read
AD | tickets gifted in exchange of an honest review
In the city-state of Zloriv, King Kasimir’s daughters are trapped—expected to smile, obey, and marry. But when they slip away each night, their worn-out shoes hide more than just a love for dancing. As they uncover a rising revolution that could shatter their father’s rule. Will they follow tradition or fight for freedom?
One of the things I thoroughly enjoyed about Worn Out was the standard of the choreography (by Paul Smethurst) throughout the whole show. Despite there being quite a few different numbers and styles, the standard of the choreography, and how it was delivered, was high quality, and fit the music perfectly, to help convey the story to the audience. Even when the majority of the cast was involved in the dance numbers, the stage never seemed overcrowded, and everyone was involved in these numbers in some way.
Zoe Morris’ story was adapted really well to the stage, taking us through the King’s daughters planning their escapes, to actually escaping, and everything in between. In addition to this, Meg McGrady composed a score which complemented the story on the whole, helping convey the messages that Morris was wanting to convey throughout the original book. The cast were all fabulous at getting the material across to the audience, with a powerful moment happening towards the end. Despite how strong it was, there were a few comedic moments that didn’t hit as they should’ve done, and the ending also felt rather underwhelming in comparison to what I was expecting as an audience member, and left expecting a better rounding off of the show overall.
I liked the minimalist set of Worn Out, showing the different parts of town, whether this was the town centre, mines, or palace. The lighting helped with this, with the design of it successfully managing to help us as audience members be able to distinguish between different locations used throughout Worn Out.
For me, the biggest issue with this show was the costumes. The King, his daughters, and some palace staff costumes were more modern, fitting to the standards of what’s seen in society today, whereas the townspeople’s costumes were attempting to be more like period costumes, was this a planned contrast comparison to show who was higher in society or was this a confusing choice. On top of this, the daughters just used a white cloth to represent them going into Zloriv town centre, and trying to blend into the townspeople. I believe slight tweaks could’ve been made to this, as it seemed very obvious, from an audience perspective, that they didn’t blend in as well as what was intended in Morris’ original story.
There were a few technical issues throughout the show which could’ve been ironed out before going on stage. Some of the transitions between scenes weren’t as smooth as they should’ve been, and the microphone levels varied massively between the cast, with it seeming some cast members didn’t have their microphones on at all, whereas other cast members, especially the King's daughters, had really prominent microphone levels. This in balance made it so the audience heard a different perspective depending where they sat in the theatre.
Overall though, British Youth Music Theatre managed to create an engaging story based on Morris’ work, with a talented cast to help convey the plot across to the audience successfully. There are areas which can be looked into to further improve the show going forward, but the negatives, on the whole, are outweighed by the positives of both the cast and creatives of Worn Out.
★★★
Worn Out plays at The Lowry until Sunday 3rd of August.
Comments