I didn’t do my research with this one. I was expecting Kiss of the Spiderwoman to be some low budget Cambridge comedy about a feminist superhero. Instead I got a low budget musical, tracing the developing relationship between a gay window dresser and a Marxist revolutionary who were sharing a cell in a Latin American prison.

This might have, then, explained the state of utter bemusement I felt whilst watching this musical. I’ve still no idea what the Spiderwoman had to do with anything, and this production certainly didn’t clarify the proceedings.

The singing was, of course, excellent. The acting was, by contrast, sub-standard, but this was to be expected considering how willingly it was shunted aside in favour of another rousing chorus of “Over the Wall.” Perhaps this excused the distinct lack of chemistry between the two male leads; but I was still completely taken aback by their declarations of love to each other, given their nonchalance when one was thought to be dying.  This was in contrast to the sizzling performance of Aurora, also known as the “Spiderwoman,” who kept the audience entertained despite her utter irrelevancy to the plot.

It was an enjoyably ramshackle production. Characters were barely lit, beds were broken, and phones fell off walls at inappropriate moments. All technical faults I’ll admit, but the bathos these faults created reminded the audience not to take this musical too seriously. Not that there was any possibility of this occurring. The whole thing was such an agreeably silly romp that the amateurish aspects of this production only served to enhance the pleasure the audience derived from the performance.

Reviewing Kiss of the Spiderwoman was a chore; it was far too easy to pick holes in both the musical and this production of it, but that meant I was missing out on most of the enjoyment.

Kiss of the Spider Woman was farcical and amateurish, but it was also overwhelmingly fun. Immensely more entertaining than a night in with Tobey Maguire. By Nick Beck