Summer Holiday Review: psychedelic bus ride in Sheffield is nauseating
- Jack Davey
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
27 June 2026 I 19:15 I Crucible Theatre, Sheffield (in association with Blackpool Grand Theatre)
⭐⭐ I PR - Invite
The Crucible Theatre has been host to a wide array of summer productions, with Robert Hastie's previous season featuring the likes of Chariots of Fire and Miss Saigon. Elizabeth Newman's first year as Artistic Director sees her take on her first musical at Sheffield Theatres: Summer Holiday (after the 1963 film). Co-directed with Ben Occhipinti, this revival is sickly sweet and in desperate need of more oomph.
We begin in 1960s Britain. Four bus mechanics are able to persuade South Yorkshire Transport to lend them a double-decker bus, which they convert into a mobile home and tour across Europe for the perfect summer. Along the way, they encounter an American youngster, a pop troupe named Do Re Mi and a ferry packed full with goats. The musical features hits from the discography of Cliff Richard and The Shadows, such as The Young Ones and Dancing Shoes.
The show's narrative is centred around the bus, and its physical absence is felt. Amanda Stoodley's design stages the vehicle in a flexible way, with wheely pairs of seats that stray from the rectangular shape of the bus and separate into all corners of the space. Two scenes also see a miniature, self-navigating bus drive itself across the stage, once inches away from unintentionally colliding with an audience member.
Their journeys into different European countries are characterised by flimsy cut-outs of the Eiffel Tower and Swiss mountains, to give example. The auditorium's shape does limit larger set pieces due to audiences being on three sides of the action. Though with little more to the set than a psychedelic 60s backdrop, it appears visually cheap.
I've seen a number of actor-musician productions this year, and it's something I usually admire. Tonight's cast do valiant work in bringing Cliff Richard's music to life, though being confined to their instruments proves somewhat detrimental. Guitars and saxophones in hand, it causes musical numbers to quickly become static. And for those without an instrument, including a slightly too laid-back Don (George Jones), there is a lot of purpose-less shuffling on the feet.
There are moments they are 'busking' in the grounds of the show, but this doesn't read well onstage, as if the cast have had no rehearsal and been thrown out to improvise a set of music besides small (but minimal) dance routines. The creative team would majorly benefit from a choreographer to shape the musicality of the show.
The cast are generally young, though its more senior double act of Jerry (Damian Humbley) and Stella (Jane McCarry) are the saving grace to this revival. After Stella's daughter Barbara (Fanta Barrie) flees home, the pair follow her across countries in a variety of eccentric disguises. McCarry's energy in particular is through the roof, excelling in physical comedy and engaging with every comic nuance in the music. Her melodrama feels out of place, but this is also the level of enthusiasm I craved from others.
Adapted especially for Sheffield by Mark Haddigan and Michael Gyngell, the book is frightfully uneventful. It does of course reach some of the right viewers, who sway and sing to their favourites. In the finale, we are encouraged to get up and dance with the cast where, in one case, a lady was dragged up to her feet after opting to stay seated. Complete with winks to the audience, clapping along and giving us fake cameras, the cast really want us to have fun.
I always tell people how much I adore the Crucible Theatre, a producing house I hold at an immensely high standard having seen some of the greatest shows in my life here. However, this Newman-Occhipinti musical venture is a rare dip in the venue's calibre. It offers an enjoyable listen to Cliff Richard's soundtrack, though fails to break new ground with an uninspired dramatic staging.
Sheffield Information & Tickets: https://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/events/summer-holiday-2026
Blackpool Information & Tickets: https://www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk/event/summer-holiday
