I Was a Teenage She-Devil Review: Camp, Chaotic and Trapped at Full Volume

I Was a Teenage She-Devil is camp, chaotic and turned up to full volume from the moment it begins. Wearing its 80s teen horror influences proudly, it follows Nancy, Aoife Haakenson’s awkward high school outsider, as she makes a deal with the devil after being pushed too far by the popular kids around her. What follows is a revenge fantasy of schoolyard status, sudden power and demonic self-discovery, set against a world of video stores, big hair and camp horror chaos.

Haakenson’s switch from timid schoolgirl to powerful she-devil is one of the strongest parts of the show. Jordan Fox’s Rod repeatedly scene-steals as the muscle-bound, gloriously dense jock, while Louis Hearsey’s Todd gets the show’s best number with Too Late. Hearsey performs it with total comic sincerity, making this song of hidden love genuinely hilarious, unexpectedly sweet and easily the musical highlight of the night.

The main issue is control. The songs are mostly rock numbers, sung high and at full power. At first, this gives the show a real kick, but over time it starts to feel relentless. The vocal power also makes some of the lyrics hard to catch, which is a problem in a show this plot driven and joke heavy. There is not enough variation in pace or tone, so the songs begin to blur together. Instead of building, the show feels permanently trapped in the inferno. It does not need less personality. It needs less fire and brimstone.

credit Lidia Crisafulli

There are still some strong elements. The set has clever touches, especially for a smaller production. The 80s inspired shapes rotate neatly to create different locations, including a beauty salon, and the production clearly understands its own bright, trashy horror comedy world. There is real pleasure in watching it summon that aesthetic, even when the show around it becomes too much.

The lighting is bold, but it suffers from the same problem as the score. Some effects are initially effective, including a neat use of the pentagram, but when everything is pushed so hard, the impact starts to fade. A little more restraint would make the darker moments feel far more wicked.

I Was a Teenage She-Devil is not short of ideas, energy or commitment. It has a fun identity, a cast willing to throw themselves into the madness, and moments that genuinely land. What it needs is discipline. At the moment, it keeps turning up the heat when it would be stronger if it knew when to cool down.

A fun, camp and chaotic night out, but one that needs more control before it can truly raise hell.

★★★