Last Updated on September 20, 2025
Sweet and corny Broadway comedy arrives in London
4.0 out of 5.0 starsRegent’s Park Open Air Theatre, in a leafy dell with an evening soundtrack of birds roosting, is the loveliest setting for the American cornfield musical comedy Shucked. The whimsical barnyard rom-com, starring Sophie McShera (TV credit, Downton Abbey) as cornfield heroine Maizy, has finally made it across the pond from Broadway to London after Covid-19 delays and rewrites.
Tony-Award-winning writer Robert Horn, who has previously adapted Tootsie and Disney’s Hercules for the stage, originally wrote a show called “Moonshine: That Hee-Haw Musical” back in 2015. Moonshine was meant to run at the National Theatre in late 2020. After the pandemic hiatus and teaming up with songwriters Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally (themselves each Grammy award winners), it was a completely evolved show that eventually opened as Shucked in Salt Lake City in 2022.
To say Shucked is about corn is akin to saying Bridget Jones is about big knickers. At its heart (or should I say kernel?), the show is a gentle romantic comedy where girl leaves boy or where a fox enters a chicken coop, but you know it’s going to come good in the end. Shucked takes place in Cob Town, an inward-facing commune of kind-hearted happy hillbillies with no reason to leave their corn row surrounded home until disaster strikes. When the corn crop fails, Maizy deems this a terrible omen and postpones her wedding to sweetheart Beau (Ben Joyce, theatre credit “Marty” in Back To The Future) in search of an agricultural miracle.
The musical numbers are Country and Western in flavour, with a dash of Bugsy Malone or Chicago – or in this case, Tampa – where Maizy goes in search of solving how to make the corn grow once more. Listening to the Broadway cast recording ahead of the show, the lyrics raving about the marvels of corn hadn’t done much to fire my enthusiasm. Nor did I feel I was getting into it much during the first half, although things made much more sense with the addition of the dialogue and listening again the day after, they’ve grown on me.
After the interval – maybe it was that glug of moonshine I downed from the bar – there was a sudden shift when Shucked completely won me over with its silliness, innocence and charm.
Leading the London cast, Sophie McShera’s red-headed drawling Maizy is unrecognisable from her more familiar guise, that of outspoken below-stairs Northern cook, Daisy from Downton. Her character is homely and endearing, delivering relatable comic lines to Beau, such as “We’re not arguing, I’m right and you’re just saying things.” Maizy’s mission from Cob Town to neon-clad Tampa has a similar feel to Margot Robbie leaving Ken behind in Barbie-land. Maizy is not the sharpest tool in the box, mistaking villainous podiatrist (yes, really) Gordy the Corn Doctor, pastel-suited Matthew Seadon-Young as her saviour, bringing him back to the suspicious residents of Cob Town.
Stand-out musical performances are Joyce’s boyband-ish ballad “OK”, and bar tender cousin Lulu’s (Georgina Onuorah – theatre credit, Kiss Me Kate at The Barbican) feminist manifesto “Independently Owned.” Had there been a roof, it is safe to say Onuorah would have competently raised it – this number towards the end of the first half received rapturous applause. “Woman of the World”, sung by McShera concluding the Tampa segment, is melodic and worthy but lacks the same impact. During the quartet number “I Will”, it’s especially apparent how Joyce and Onuorah’s vocals soar corn-row height above the rest.
Choreography verges on acrobatics in a sequence involving fast moving planks and barrels during all male number “Best Man Wins”. Ben Joyce demonstrates excellent balance straddling moving parts all whilst singing, it’s hold-your-breath stuff, you’re worried he may tumble. McShera has a fun sequence surrounded by ensemble cast members waving palm fronds that’s reminiscent of Mon Truc en Plumes (My Thing With Feathers).
Once you settle in, Shucked is frequently very funny. Two characters who brought reliable, strong laughs were Storyteller 2 (Steven Webb – theatre credit “The Book of Mormon) and Beau’s sidekick, Peanut (Keith Ramsay – theatre credit “The Play That Goes Wrong”). Neither of these two parts drives much narrative themselves, but each delivers so many back-to-back cheesy one-liners that you are delighted at every reappearance before they’ve opened their mouths. Example gag: “I just passed a squirrel. Which was unexpected because I hadn’t eaten one.”
Wholesome Americana might not be an obvious sell during the current Trump presidency. The clever thing about Shucked is how it presents a small-town farming community as a metaphor for American isolationism without hammering politics in your face. The second half’s boozy ensemble intro “We Love Jesus” irreverently pokes fun at the Bible Belt, and manages to sound like Fleetwood Mac, without offending anyone, bar perhaps prohibitionists. The Shucked characters all have a naïve charm, rare in modern storytelling, but as Beau explains, “There’s a difference between being simple and stupid.” There aren’t really any villains here; even scheming Gordy quickly wins audience sympathies.
Shucked has a lovable appeal such that you can imagine it touring for years – a film adaptation is already in production. It’s old-fashioned yet contemporary. The jokes and innuendos are often quite rude, but so sweetly done you could take prudish relatives or children without them noticing. Shucked would lend itself well to the school production circuit – this could be the new “Hairspray” – with some of the more risqué sexual references removed. The Regent’s Park run lasts until mid-June, but even if you don’t make it that fast, you’re likely to get stalked by Shucked sooner or later.
Shucked – 10 May to 14 June
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Inner Circle
London NW1 4NU
Looking for more al-fresco arts in London? Check our Best of London Theatre Outdoors Previews
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