Cameron Sinclair Harris is out to subvert our view of the planets of our Solar System. They aren’t personification of the gods that lent them their names, bolstered by works like Holst’s Planet Suite. They’re silly, maddening, insecure, and cheeky. Some of these personification are very entertaining. Others less so, which is the show’s main problem; it’s just too variable in quality.

Sinclair is certainly energetic, with a slightly unsettling intensity that lends itself to more manic characters. Even when stationary they almost visibly vibrate. Surrounded by the props and ephemera of the show, it’s unavoidable to see them as a kid with a thoroughly ransacked toybox.

Harris is at their best when they lean into their love of musical theatre in its various forms. Mercury has something of the music hall, with Harris impressing at their verbal dexterity with a pastiche of Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘Major-General’s Song’, and Saturn struts out a sassy, camp number about its rings that wouldn’t be out of place amid the bolshy bangers in the charts from the likes of Charli xcx.

Venus also entertains as a nicely disturbing female figure with Bic razors for fingers. It’s possibly the character that is the best fit for Harris’ subtly unsettling persona. The rest of the characters vary from okay to forgettable. Jupiter in particularly is practically skipped over after an apologetic shrug of a bit involving its spot (blue here, for some reason).

Harris is also very keen on audience participation, to a noticeable variance in keenness. Sometimes it’s not entirely clear what is expected, such as when they take a call from Pluto, with the audience member playing the dwarf planet left to adlib, which feels like too high an expectation.

The overall sense of ‘PLANETS!!!’ is of a showcase for the multifarious talents of its creator. This is fair enough, plenty performers structure a particular show to be a calling card for all of their abilities. What this leads to here is a show that feels disconnected even with its coherent thematic links. Going to back to the toybox analogy, it’s like Harris is indulging in playtime with the attendant lack of focus of an excitable kid.

It certainly lands with some of the younger members of the crowd; it’s noticeable that those loving it skew solidly to Gen Z. There’s also a laudable environment message running through the show. But in general, PLANETS!!! is too choppy, too unfocused, and a little too much like being in a captive audience with an aggressively precocious theatre kid.

‘PLANETS!!!‘ is at Assembly Rooms – Front Room until Sun 24 Aug 2025 at 17:05