Review: Unfortunate at Nottingham Theatre Royal shares the unstold story of Ursula the sea witch

We have all heard of the Little Mermaid, whether we read the book, watched the original Disney film or even the new live-action remake. Time after time again, we see how the evil sea witch Ursula tricks Aerial into giving up her voice before she meets her doom, or so we thought.

Unfortunate is a musical like no other, and transports the audience under the sea to reveal her truth about what really happened, and how she became the monster we all fear. However, unlike the Disney version, this performance is definitely not for children and includes plenty of cursing and sexual references.

Something I probably should have checked before bringing my teenage sister along. However, whilst the constant swearing had the audience in fits of laughter, some parts of the show were definitely beyond over the top.

Get the latest news straight to your phone by joining us on WhatsApp

I loved the use of puppets to show all the animals under the sea, especially when the blue lights came on to show the dark side of the ocean and the fish started to glow. However there was one part where I was confused over why they used puppets to show children, like a young Ursula and Triton instead of child actors, and then I realised it was due to the show's bad language and sexual scenes.

Shawna Hamic gave an outstanding performance as Ursula, not only was her acting perfect in bringing the character to life, her singing was extraordinary and she never missed a beat. River Medway also gave a fantastic performance as Aerial, and members of the audience may recognise them from the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race UK.

Thomas Lowe was a fantastic Triton, and Jamie Mawson was a hilarious Eric. I usually prefer musicals like Grease or Singing in the Rain, and whilst this show was fantastic in many ways, it definitely isn't something I would go and watch again.

But if you love musical parody and filthy humour, this show is one not to be missed. The performance also explained why Triton and Ursula hate each other so much, and who could blame them after Triton's dad murdered a cucumber and framed Ursula for the murder.

The last showing of Unfortunate in Nottingham will be tonight (Saturday, June 29).