Review: For the Lack of Laura (The Shaw Theatre)

For the Lack of Laura centres around Laura (Jane Patterson), who is beautiful, graceful, and dreaming of true love. The scene is set as her father, Conor (Cian Forde) sees her off to a village dance, at which Laura pairs off with a local chap for an evening that she knows will be no more than that. Her dream is to find the perfect man and she doesn’t think she will achieve that in her village.  As her friend Maggie (Emma Daly) comically explains, this search for perfection is a losing battle from the start, but the story goes on with Laura being offered a “curse” of immortality by a local sorceress, Gwendolethe, which will grant her immortality and enable her to travel through time to fulfil her search for her one true love.

Laura accepted this offer without any hesitation. The alarming proviso that the person she fell in love with would end up being immortal as the curse passed away from her was seemingly not an issue for Laura at this point.  Just as well, or this would have been a very short show.

Gwendolethe was played by Mo Lombardo, and I could not take my eyes away from her when she was on the stage. Her performance was perfection in every way, the evil laugh, the mannerisms, the vocals… it was like she’d dropped out of a Disney movie along with another villain from a different show. But more on that later. It was notable that in between her times playing Gwendolethe, this performer also appeared in the ensemble and drew my eye every time she was on stage. The very different make up must have taken some high-speed effort to change each time.

The suitors Laura met were from different locations and points in time, each of which were stated on a screen, so there was no doubt where and when we were at each point. From Madrid to Paris, amongst other places, Laura spends time with some gorgeous yet flawed people; an artist, a writer, a vicar, a Russian ballet dancer and a matador.  

Barra Convery’s performance as Mikail the dancer was hilarious, this character was a combination of workaholic and selfish, but played in such a funny way he added a real comedic note to the show. 

Keith Hanley’s matador, Salvador, was a highlight. When Laura turned up and discovered him surrounded by a bunch of Gypsy dancers, all completely entranced by him, (also reminding me brilliantly of Gaston with his utter love for himself) he attempted in vain to prove she was his only interest. The performance by everyone involved here was engaging, sexy and memorable. The costumes in this scene were superb.

Lenny Turner played vicar Allan and despite this character not perhaps having the charisma of the two I mentioned above, this performer oozed star quality, not just because of the believable characterisation in his performance but also because of his vocals. If he and Jane Patterson don’t become very big names in future, I will be very surprised.

The five suitors were individually given a chance to shine with a song each. But as a group they really excelled.  Vocally their harmonies were exquisite, and when Gwendolethe was on stage with them effectively “forcing them around” with her magical powers, their movements were so tightly synchronised, it was a delight to watch. Towards the end, when Laura’s choice was made, the four rejected suitors were very entertaining in how they dealt with it, creating a positive, comedic moment which was a nice upward turn.

The costume design (by Margarita Belova) was timeless in nature, and the colour of Laura’s outfit subtly changing over time was very symbolic of her seemingly impossible quest to find true love.

During the time Laura is whizzing through space and time, her bestie Maggie, who originally spoke of how she’d never found love, has a wonderful story arc of her own. This subplot grounds us more in reality as the time travelling efforts prove that sometimes it’s best to just wait and look at what’s right in front of you. Emma Daly was a joy to watch as Maggie.

The performances alongside the animated backgrounds on the LED screen backdrops were eye catching but for me the absolute pinnacle sensory treat was the music, which I adored throughout. Different musical styles were subtly interchanged, all of which were beautiful and well-orchestrated.

A few thoughts I noted.  I’m not sure the opening credits, accompanied by recorded music were necessary. I much preferred the sound of the musicians live on stage, and the list of cast and crew were available from the programme. I’d have liked to have known how Laura’s father was while she was on her quest.  This would have been emotive, as well as a good excuse to hear more of Cian Forde’s vocals. A planetary change graphic to denote Laura travelling through time felt surplus to requirement. 

A final two things, the cliff set beginning off-stage, and the use of blackout for scene changes, I suspect would not be so much of an issue if a theatre became home for this show for more than just a visiting tour. I really do hope this happens at some point.

For the Lack of Laura was an engaging escape from reality, with some wonderful performances and a twist that keeps you thinking long after the end of the show, and I would love to see it again.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This tour of For the Lack of Laura closes on 2nd August 2025. At the time of writing, tickets are still available for the final performance here.

I was gifted a ticket for this show in exchange for an honest review.

If you would like to see 30 more of my curtain call photographs from this show, please do have a look at my Instagram.