The UK premiere of Diva: Live From Hell! at the Turbine Theatre may transport audiences to the fiery seventh circle of hell, but this show is far from a relentless infernal punishment. Unless your idea of hell is classic Broadway pastiche. In which case, we’re astonished you managed to stumble across this ticket in the first place!

Alexander Sage Oyen and Nora Brigid Monahan’s musical follows the late Desmond Channing as he recounts his Satanic fall from grace, from the dizzying heights of high school drama club presidency to the lows of homicidal outcast. Imagine if you gave Rachel Berry the gentlest of nudges over the edge into bloodthirsty rage.

Diva: Live From Hell! could have been ghost written by Ryan Murphy – this short but perfectly-formed production is fast-paced, camp and a little bit gory. Oyen and Monahan pack the show with vicious humour and a formidable glut of Broadway knowledge. The production programme includes a glossary of terms for the un-theatrical – an absolute essential for any of the uninitiated who may find themselves adrift in the swathe of references to Bette Davis, Jerry Herman, and Ethel Merman.

Solo performer Luke Bayer is jaw-dropping. He sells Desmond’s story so compellingly, literally leaping between an entire cast of characters without missing a beat. Bayer is hernia-inducing funny and commands his stage with such easy confidence, he surely deserves to sit at the table of theatre legends Patti LuPone and Kevin Kline.

Producer Alistair Lindsay and director Joe McNeice are also responsible for the lighting and set design of this production and deserve a standing ovation of their own for the scope of their talents. In perfect harmony with all-singing, all-dancing master storyteller Bayer, the set and lighting transport the audience through the sordid depths of hell’s infernal cabaret club to the halls of Ronald Reagan High School.

Get your tickets now, and as many of them as you can afford. Sassy, savage, screamingly funny and a little bit spooky. If this is what hell is, we’re glad we’re heading that way!

***** Five stars

Reviewed by: Livvy Perrett

Diva: Live From Hell plays at the Turbine Theatre until 3 September, with tickets available here.