Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch, The Musical Parody at Southwark Playhouse

After a record run at the Edinburgh Fringe and sellouts around the UK, this critically acclaimed smash hit is now bigger and better. 

In a world where entering your “villain-era” is iconic, Robyn Grant and Daniel Foxx’s Ursula gives us something to strive towards. Drag meets Disney in this collation of the good, the bad and the fabulous. Originally inspired by iconic drag queen Divine, Ursula embraces her queer history and LGBTQ+ origin. 

Anti-heroes are emerging as champions within their stories, surfacing in their own right as multifaceted characters with their tormented histories and intricate backstories. One only has to look as far as Disney’s Cruella. If a devilishly cruel, puppy-skinning murderer can draw some empathy from audiences, then surely too can a voice-stealing, octo-woman with a talent for contract negotiation.

Ursula’s tale, or rather, tentacle, starts where The Little Mermaid ends. We find out that Ursula managed to survive the “boatload of seaman to the chest” and is here to set the record straight. Transported back 20 years, the audience witnesses Ursula’s life unfold, including the Disney tale as we know it told from her perspective.

Where Ursula is in full force a plus-size icon, Ariel’s character is given a revamp; she’s a stereotypical spoilt and ditzy Gen-Z brat in need of a dramatic cultural awakening. The real romance doesn’t lie with the love at first sight cliché between Ariel and her man-child Prince, but between teenage sweethearts Ursula and Triton, young love smothered.

Amongst the hilariously naughty innuendos, the soundtrack comprises of some genuinely fantastic musical numbers. Tim Gilvin delivers an array of parodic melodies underpinned by echoes from the original, such as Kiss the Girl reimagined as Ask the Girl, a song about consent, which just about evades any copyright issues.

Perhaps it’s more adept to compare Unfortunate to the West End’s Wicked. Picture Elphaba as a debauchee with significantly more hedonistic tendencies. However, both demonstrate the frequent vilification of strong, independent and intellectual women. Is Ursula really the baddie? Or is she a victim of her own cleverness and society’s inability to accept non-conforming beauty?

Ursula refuses to be ignored in this feel-good rapture of self-authenticity and celebration of societal outliers. Through comedic puppetry, the creatures that inhabit Ursula’s deep watery lair, those considered too ugly to make it into Disney, are also given their limelight.

This parody celebrates everything eccentric, unique and queer. Though entitled The Untold Story, by the end, Ursula’s account is not only narrated but marvellously declared. Ariel is the Princess, but make no mistake, Ursula is the Queen.

Ursula’s devilish attention to detail and unrivalled talent for bargain negotiation teaches women never to accept less than they deserve, even if that means getting it in writing.

The audience leaves the auditorium with two takeaways: to love yourself before anyone else and to never sign a contract without reading the small print. 

Olivia Gardener

Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch, The Musical Parody is at Southwark Playhouse from 8^th December until 17^th February 2024. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.