Review: Hedwig & the Angry Inch, at HOME, Manchester

It's not often this show gets produced in the UK, so when it does, it's not wonder audiences grab the chances by the balls..! 

The day after Wuthering Heights, came a trip to Manchester's HOME complex; somewhere I had eaten at before, but never seen anything at.... Felt it was time to change that, with a revival of cult hit Hedwig & the Angry Inch, starring the one and only Divina de Campo (Sinderella!). 

I first heard of John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask's musical, like a fair few I suspect, with the Broadway revival in 2014, which starred Neil Patrick Harris as Hedwig. But she's been rocking the stage since 1998 in New York, and has strutted her stuff all over the world. Her London debut came in 2000 with Michael Cerveris playing her; and she even got her own film adaptation in 2001, with John Cameron Mitchell himself reprising the role. 

This revival was playing at the Playhouse in Leeds, before transferring to Manchester's HOME - a really good venue choice in my opinion, as like the Hope Mill, it's somewhere that's small and intimate (though not an industrial setting like the Hope Mill has).   

Meet Hedwig: an East German transgender rock singer who's just looking for love and her place in the world, like the rest of the us. 

While performing a gig in a Working Men's Club, we're given a taste into her life through the late 80s and early 90s: her past, her transition period and coping with a botched operation that's left her with an angry inch... 

Despite the (really good) on-stage band, and the presence of Hedwig's husband Yitzhak (played by Elijah Ferreira), this is essentially a one-person show. From Hedwig's first appearance, draped in a cloak and showered in cheers, you know it belongs to her. And when she fans out her cloak to reveal "Gender is a Construct" painted across the front, any doubt of that is eradicated. 

Divina de Campo, for me was perfect casting. After appearing as Mary Sunshine in Chicago earlier this year (which let's be honest is a bit of a one-note part), finally she has a part in which she can truly show what she can truly do; including her 4 (or is it 5) octave range! She steals every single second she is on stage; you cannot help but be drawn to her. 

"I'm the new Berlin Wall" she yells in the opening number "Try and tear me down"

The score is one of those rock scores which truly I think makes you think you are at a gig more than a musical. I've yet to see a score that encapsulates the grunge and glam-rock of the late 80s/early 90s as well as Hedwig does. 

But for all the big guitar riffs, head banging and giant inflatable gummy bears dressed up in S&M gear (there is a reason for that, I promise), some of the best musical moments are in the softer moments: The Origin of Love and Wicked Little Town are perfect examples of taking time out to show how good a songwriter Trask truly is. 

The last time Hedwig graced the stage in the UK was 2005; so if you are able to get to Manchester, I highly recommend this one. It may be different to what you may go to usually, it's not for everyone, and some of the subject matters can be triggering. 

But what you do realise pretty quickly is that Hedwig has a huge heart; her revealing it to the audience is a pretty special thing to see, particularly with de Campo at the mic. 

Hedwig and the Angry Inch is playing at HOME in Manchester until Wednesday 11th May.