Esme Bowlder marks touring debut with dream role in ‘Heathers’

Following successful runs in the West End and two national tours, the winner of the WhatsOnStage Best New Musical, Heathers the Musical, is on its way to Cambridge.

This black comedy/rock musical, based on the cult teen film, Heathers, starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, tells the story of Veronica Sawyer, just another nobody dreaming of a better life.

But when she is unexpectedly taken under the wings of the three beautiful – though impossibly cruel – Heathers, her dreams of popularity finally start to come true.

One of the three ‘Heathers’ is played by newcomer Esme Bowdler, from Chester.

“It’s going really well – the audiences have been really good here,” says the lady herself, speaking to the Cambridge Independent from a tour stop in Blackpool.

“I think it’s been really well received. We’ve been to so many places and there’s lots of different types of audiences but I think they’re receiving it really well.”

Esme, who graduated from the prestigious ArtsEd Performing Arts School in London in 2021, explains: “I discovered Heathers when I was 14.

“Off Broadway, where it started, there’s a recording of it on YouTube, and that’s kind of when the hardcore theatre people found it and took it upon themselves to make it a huge thing.

“I did it a little bit in high school, even though it is a bit high school-inappropriate!”

Esme, a finalist on TV talent competition Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream in 2023, calls the part of Heather Chandler “an absolute dream role” and represents her first UK tour.

“It’s been really amazing to get to play it now,” she says. “It’s definitely taught me a lot about touring and things you need and things you don’t.”

What else has she enjoyed about touring?

“Definitely just getting to see different places of the UK that I’ve never seen – because we’ve been to the very top of Scotland, next week we’re in Torquay, and that’s going to be good because I’ve never been that far south...

“And it’s good to do things as a cast in different places. Like we try and do something at least once a week in each of the locations, so that’s been really nice. We did the Blackpool Dungeons yesterday.”

Esme’s credits while training include Rosie in The Wedding Singer (ArtsEd), To Gillie, with Love (Gillian Lynne Theatre), The Music of the Night (Royal Albert Hall), Chita Rivera Live in London (Cadogan Hall), and the 2019 Olivier Awards (Royal Albert Hall).

Esme admits that she wasn’t as familiar with the 1989 film version of Heathers as she was with the stage musical.

“After we’d got this, we had to all go and watch it to do our research,” she reveals, “and it’s so good. It’s definitely slightly different to the stage version. I think it’s quite a cult classic, but I did love the film just as much.”

The actress believes that the play appeals to theatre-goers of all ages – “because a lot of the older generations that come to see the show remember the film, and that sparked their love for the show”…

And for the younger generation, like the teenage Esme who first discovered the show, it strikes a chord because “it’s about being in high school and maybe not fitting in, or different themes that you come across in every high school, so I think the younger generation definitely find a very mutual connection through that”.

Esme describes her character Heather Chandler as “very much the boss of the school – she has everyone wrapped round her little finger, and I would definitely say she’s not a very nice person”.

I had to ask, what was Esme herself like at school?

“I was the complete opposite, I have to admit,” she replies, “I was definitely a bit of a people-pleaser, a bit of a teacher’s pet… I wasn’t great at academic stuff but I absolutely thrived at performing and all things like that.

“So it is funny to be reliving the high school experience but as a completely different type of person.”

Heathers the Musical starts its run at the Cambridge Arts Theatre next Tuesday (19 November) and runs until Saturday (23 November). Tickets, priced £25-£49, are available from cambridgeartstheatre.com.