Ambitious new queer comedy musical Trompe L’oeil sadly misses the mark – review
We’ll say this right from the off – we don’t enjoy writing negative reviews. We’re aware the theatre industry has had a difficult few years during the pandemic and coming out the other side, and we know the time and effort that goes into creating these shows.
Especially when a piece of theatre is new and queer, we want to champion and promote it – we really wanted to enjoy Trompe L’oeil and recommend it, but we just don’t feel as though we can.
This ambitious (perhaps overly so) new musical completely misses the mark. For starters, it’s not immediately clear, when you’re buying a ticket, what you’ve signed up for – the website advises that “cabaret, musical theatre songs, politics, queer theatre, and circus combine with the trompe l’oeil illusionary art form in this stunning new musical.” At no point is there a mention of the former US president, but make no mistake, what you’ll be signing up for is two hours of Donald Trump: The Musical.
It feels like an odd moment to be staging this show – it doesn’t really feel timely enough to be relevant, but it’s not a distant enough memory to be a historical piece.
