Southwark Playhouse Elephant, London
A 15-year-old’s bereavement is tackled with ‘can-do’ American energy, a tremendous score and wickedly barbed lyrics that keep the schmaltz in check

This musical begins as a sunny coming-of-age story, with a teenager and aspiring novelist excitedly driving off to “writing camp”. That journey quickly veers into dark matter, from cancer diagnosis in the family to the aftermath of parental death.

Its central character, the sweet 15-year-old Malia (Robyn Rose-Li), swings between a “can-do” attitude to overcoming grief and submitting to its anguish. So does the show itself: there is a pastel wash to the set and costumes, and heavy doses of all-American schmaltz in Eric Holmes’s book and lyrics, which would grate were it not for the characters’ lovability – and the show’s sensational songs.