London With a Teenager

I may have mentioned before that Eva is a bit obsessed with musicals at the moment and “Hadestown” is one of her particular faves. So when we were on the bus to school, she looked at my phone over my shoulder and noticed an extremely well-targeted Facebook ad that told me I could not miss Melanie La Barrie’s last performance as Hermes.

Eva concurred. We could not. So right there, on the top deck of the bus, I went on to the Lyric Theatre website and managed to nab the last two £25 tickets in the whole theatre. They weren’t in the same row but one was just in front of the other. They were sold as restricted view but Eva assured me that they were the same ones she’d sat in before and the view was just fine. This was not her first “Hadestown” experience, you see, but it would be mine. I had seen the snippets at Musical Con but this would be the first time I watched the show all the way through.

She also insisted that she would be dressing as Hermes for the occasion. It took a little bit of charity shopping and eBaying but we got something together that I think looked pretty authentic:

I didn’t know that much about the show, compared to Eva, but I looked at some pictures on Sunday morning and thought I could cobble together a reasonable approximation of a Fates costume:

We were heading to the show from church – in fact, I was really meant to be at a partners’ meeting instead of at the theatre but I passed it off as spending the afternoon ruminating on the nature of Hell and the afterlife. We so rarely discuss that in partners’ meetings.

We spent a long time on the 38 but it did go pretty much door to door and dropped us right outside the theatre with an hour to go before curtain up. There was a queue formed already and a number of people who’d joined Eva in cosplaying, which she was very excited about. We needed food before we went in so we nipped to the Trocadero branch of That Fries Emporium to carb up for a lengthy show.

Still, we had plenty of time to climb up those hundreds of stairs before the show started and time to buy a programme as well. Our seats were steeply banked and my plan of climbing from Eva’s row to mine almost cost me a thigh muscle but I made it. Just. The view was indeed a little restricted but we could see nearly everything that we needed to.

I’m aware that this performance was a bit of a superfan event so I was probably a bit out of place as a first-timer. I was wrangling a legitimate La Barrie fangirl though and she was dressed to prove it. So I feel like we justified our seats on this most special afternoon.

And it was indeed special. As soon as the cast walked out, the applause was so thunderous that I thought the whole thing might never get started. Everyone – on stage and off – was emotional already and it hadn’t even kicked off yet. It was going to be totes emosh. Sorry, I did promise Eva I’d never use that phrase again but hey, she’s at Shakespeare while I’m writing this so she will never know.

If you don’t live with a “Hadestown” fangirl, you might not be familiar with the plot but I’ll explain it. It’s basically a Deep South jazz setting of two Greek myths – Orpheus and Eurydice mixed with Hades and Persephone. There are a few Greek myth shows on the “to-see” list at the moment so this could be a bit of a theme for 2025. And for those of you not familiar with Greek myths, heed my warning….they don’t often have a happy ending.

There isn’t a huge amount of plot, especially over a 2.5 hour show. Orpheus sees Eurydice and falls in love with her, only to lose her while he’s busy writing a song. Anyone who’s ever dated a musician will understand how that happens. Then he needs to go to the underworld to bring her back only to be offered a very specific deal by Hades – he can lead her out of Hell as long as he never looks backwards to check that she’s following him. You know, that ropey kind of deal that Greek gods are always trying to make with mortals. Hades’ wife is Persephone, who is trapped in an equally ropey deal – she has to spend half the year in the underworld in order to be free to enjoy the sunshine in the other six months of the year. When we meet Persephone in the show, she’s not enjoying the arrangement and Hades, quite frankly, does not seem like a good husband.

Hermes, messenger to the gods, acts as narrator to the whole tale and the Fates intervene to bend the characters to their own will. Just for transparency, Eva has now returned from Shakespeare and is reading this over my shoulder so she knows about the totes emosh thing. Totes awks.

The show is almost pretty much sung through, with dialogue usually mid-song rather than between songs. The style is quite jazzy but some of the slower songs have a different feel. “Wait for Me” sounds like a Celtic ballad – possibly because the last two Orpheuses (Orpheusi?) have been Scottish and Irish respectively. My favourite songs were all from the Fates. I’m an absolute sucker for three-part harmony, which I blame on being brought up listening to the Supremes. I even had a plan to go and live on ZingZilla Island as a Beach Byrd one day when the London winter was a bit too much. So I loved the way they sang together and songs like “When the Chips are Down” had a different feel to the full-on ensemble numbers. I have heard reviews of the show that complain about the band being too loud for the vocals but I can’t say we had that issue – we could hear everything that was sung or said. It might be different closer to the stage but up in the extreme gods (not Hades) we could hear just fine.

We’d had a preview of Dylan Wood (Orpheus) and Madeline Charlemagne (Eurydice) singing their duet at MusicalCon but it was lovely to see them a few months on, being so much more confident in their roles. Dylan will be returning as Orpheus after the OBC have their stint and I think Madeline is currently reprising her old role as a Fate but it was the last time they were going to be singing together in this way and so it did feel extra special, like Eva and I had been there at the start and end of their journey. Similarly, Rachel Tucker (Persephone) and Trevor Dion Nicholas (Hades) were playing out their toxic but passionate relationship for the last time and that too we’d seen the start of back in October. When “Wicked” came out and my entire social media feed was nothing but Oz-related content, Rachel Tucker was often cited as one of the great Elphabas. So it’s been a real privilege seeing her sing live not once but twice now.

But the undoubted star of Sunday’s show was Melanie La Barrie. That was what many people were there for, after all. She’s widely regarded as one of the great Hermeses (Hermesii?) and even André de Shields himself said as much at Musical Con. She has such a calm assurance to her performance and is a fabulous storyteller, which is what the role needs. At the curtain call, everyone was crying and saying what a matriarch she was to the cast and I can well believe that.

I’m getting ahead of myself, though. There was much more to talk about before we get to the curtain call. Like the remarkable staging that allowed actors to literally descend into the underworld. I was slightly perturbed by the way the giant hole in the stage remained after the actors had descended – maybe it’s just because of how clumsy I am but I was so sure someone was about to fall into it. Also, a more obsessive person than me would have been irritated by the way the revolving stage meant that the lines of the floorboards almost never lined up. But I’m not obsessive in that way, thankfully. Given how simple the set was initially though, it was remarkable how much they did with it.

The band onstage were also remarkable – so in synch and full of energy through a lengthy show. It does make a difference having the band integrated into the action and I might be wrong but I believe Orpheus is actually playing the guitar onstage as well, rather than just miming like some other shows would have him do. I wish he’d invest in a guitar case though – if the road to hell is a hard road then he shouldn’t just sling his “lyre” over his shoulder like that. If he breaks a tuning peg, he’ll have to replace the whole machine head. I know he’s a poor boy but if he can afford a nice guitar, he can afford a case too.

Health and Safety and instrument care aside, I have no real criticisms of this show. The runtime goes quickly considering it’s full length and doesn’t have much of a plot. Persephone is a delightful drunk, skipping around in her green in the world above and sulking in black down below. Hades is suitably menacing and, as Eva tells me, the only Bass in the whole of musical theatre. I’m not sure she’s correct on that but he certain had some impressively low notes. As does Eurydice, which is interesting considering that Orpehus sings in falsetto a lot of the time. So when they’re duetting they’re tonally a lot closer together than you’d normally hear in a male-female duet. If I was going to nitpick the plot, I’d say that they make some very rash decisions based on only knowing each other for a few minutes but aren’t young people just impulsive like that? And characters in Greek myths rarely make good decisions.

The ensemble also worked together well, especially in the underworld where they moved in perfect unison as Hades’ maltreated employees. It’s not a massive cast but the stage feels full most of the time and there always seems to be something to look at. I loved the variety of actors in the cast…it really felt diverse and inclusive, both in terms of age and race. The setting is Deep South but the exact setting and era are kept deliberately vague in order to make this a story that could happen to anyone, anywhere. I mean it couldn’t literally happen but the themes of love and hopefulness and wanting a see a better world than the one you see are pretty universal.

It’s also worth saying that they have character-themed cocktails and mocktails in the bar at the interval. We stuck to the traditional ice cream (mango sorbet for her, vegan salted caramel for me) and I managed to just about get to the toilets and back to my seat in time tho it was tight. There are only two ladies’ cubicles at the balcony level, which is better than Macbeth but worse than The Tempest. Some thoughtful ushers escorted a few ladies at the back of the queue to the gents’ just to ensure we all got a chance to go before the second half….I know these details are important to my fellow middle aged women so note well…go early or use the gents’ when invited to.

I’ve skipped all over the show, chronology-wise so I might as well go straight from interval to ending and it was notable that, although everyone in the auditorium had probably seen the show before, they was still a gasp when Eurydice had to descend for the final time. I could hear Eva sobbing in front of me and she was too far away to hug so I just kind of patted her shoulder with the tips of my fingers. “We Raise Our Cups” is always an emotional song, I feel, but probably more so tonight as some of the cast were openly crying through it.

Then there were speeches to each of the departing cast members which I can’t possibly do justice to here but you should look them up on Instagram because they were absolutely beautiful. And together we chorused “story end” to wish Mel La Barrie on her way to her next stop (which was an awards ceremony where she won an award so clearly our good wishes worked). Then I lost Eva briefly.

It’s fine – I knew I could find her at the stage door and so I headed that way and found her in the rain, both sad and elated at the same time. It was always going to be a scrum at the stage door but one we were up for joining so we stood in the cold rain for a while and eventually, out popped…a hand. From these windows up here:

It was hard to tell who the hand belonged to but it was later followed by a face and then another at a different window. We had stumbled upon the West End’s most exciting Advent calendar.

I had guessed we wouldn’t be seeing any cast for a while as they were probably saying their own private goodbyes as well as the public ones. But soon enough. the charming Simon Oskarsson came out to brave the rain and sign our programme. He was followed by a few more hardy souls, including Dylan Wood. It was hard to match faces to names as Eva had the paper copy of the programme and my phone wasn’t loving the rain but I think we met Tiago Dhondt Bamberger, Christopher Short and Winny Herbert. If I’ve got anyone’s names wrong, I sincerely apologise but dang, it was extreme conditions for stage dooring. Anyway, there were all totally lovely and were very complimentary about Eva’s outfit, which made her little theatre kid heart full to bursting.

I had heard on MickeyJo Theatre that Mel herself didn’t do stage door anymore, after an unpleasant encounter with some overly physical fans. But we still glimpsed her and Madeline as they left, which is the point that Eva finally agreed to let me stop standing in the rain and go warm up in the tube. I’m glad we went round to the stage door though, as the actors we met were really very sweet and the fans were all friendly as well. From the looks of the OBC opening night stage door, I think we were lucky and it could have been a lot rowdier than it was. But no, just stagey good vibes and a lot of cold rain.

Of course, now Eva wants to go back and see the new cast when they start. So it’s a sad tale but I might well sing it again and again…..

Happy New Year everyone! I know it’s the new year because I looked round and Nathan had stealthily removed the Christmas tree just in time for the twelfth night. And talking of the twelfth night, guess which Shakespeare play we saw yesterday? Yes, that’s right – “The Tempest”

This is the fourth tempestuous production that I’ve seen in the last couple of years and I’ve re-read my previous reviews in an attempt to not repeat myself. It may not be successful. If you want to do the same, here are the first two productions – The Globe in April 2023 and Unicorn Theatre in September 2023 .The missing third one was by Eva’s Shakespeare class and weirdly enough, I didn’t review that one publicly. She did make a very convincing Caliban tho, which I’m not sure is a good thing.

Nathan had taken the lead on booking this one, which is unusual for family outings. I assumed it was so that he could reprise his Weaver line joke – as these posters for the play sprang up at HP Station at the same time as the Overground rebrand:

And worry not, he did indeed reprise the joke but there was also an element of fanboying over Ms Sigourney. When I mentioned it to another male of a similar vintage, he nodded sagely and said “say no more”. I would say this makes us even for me booking David Tennant but I also have Ewan McGregor in the bag (not literally) for April so we are not quite even yet.

As with the Unicorn Theatre trip, we started with brunch at My Favourite Cafe on Essex Road. We had some time to kill, which meant trips to Cass Art and Waterstones at the Islington end and Forbidden Planet at the Covent Garden end. We also popped into FP’s new neighbour, Animetal, which had a nice Totoro window display.

I also spotted this seemingly pointless sign in the middle of an empty bit of pavement:

And the kind of little playground that would have delighted the kids ten years ago:

The Theatre Royal is certainly an impressive looking building. I think in our pre-kids lives we saw “The Producers” and “League of Gentlemen” there. Very shortly post-Reuben we also saw the 2009 revival of “Oliver!” there and wondered if it would still be running by the time he was old enough to play a workhouse boy. It was not and now it’s back again, he is sadly far too giant and deep-voiced.

The theatre has the most amazing, “Gone With the Wind”-type staircases:

It’s also got an engraving of Rodgers and Hammerstein, which every “Sound of Music” fan should stop and admire.

There were bars and toilets in every level, which is not to be taken for granted, and the toilets were much more spacious than some West End theatres. One thing though – it was incredibly hot inside the auditorium. Given that the weather outside was due-to-snow, I assume that they whacked the heating up to full to compensate but we were sweating and weirdly sleepy because of the warmth and the eerie music that was both loud and hypnotic.

Don’t worry tho, I didn’t actually fall asleep so I can tell you what happened in the play. It was tempting tho, especially as people in the play seem to be lying down and sleeping all the time.

So, elephant in the auditorium time – there have been some negative reviews of this production from the press previews. I went in prepared. It was considerably longer than the other productions I’ve seen recently – it was 2 hours 10, including an interval whereas the Globe one was 90 minutes and the Unicorn a mere 75. Both of those were, however, what YouTube calls “Made for Kids” whereas this was a show that full grown adults might like, especially ones who were had posters of Sigourney on their walls when they were geeky teens. I described both of those other shows using words like “physical”, “bright”, “bold” and “feisty”. This was the opposite in many words. But again, let’s remember that the other two were kids’ shows and this was not. It picked a more muted palette and a slower pace because Shakespeare doesn’t have to be fast-paced and zany.

Also, it seemed to be quite clearly aimed at fans of the “Alien” franchise, which is a smart commercial move. The island looked like the surface of the moon and the costumes had the kind of utilitarian feel that’s not a million miles away from the uniforms in those films. Ariel might sing of golden sands, but there wasn’t a lot of gold to be found on this stage.

Except for Ariel themself, who was a dazzlingly welcome touch of drama in a show that sometimes felt a bit flat. Descending from on high or singing in an otherworldy voice, Mason Alexander Park stole the show every time they appeared. Not that anyone else did anything wrong – don’t believe those early reviews! – but it was just change of pace. The eerie sound that was playing as we took our seats continued for much of the show, which did give it all a similar kind of feeling. There were some set changes, produced through lighting and billowing cloth, but largely it was the same landscape with Prospero on stage throughout. So occasional bursts of sprite-song really helped to shift the tone and keep us awake (it really was quite, quite warm in there).

In my amateurish opinion there was nothing wrong with the central performance of Prospero – none of the awkward silences and forgotten lines that the reviews warned of. She’s clearly settled into the role as she’s gone along. Gender-swapping the language made for some slightly clunky sounding sentences – especially when it came to Miranda’s speech where she says “I do not know one of my sex, no woman’s face remember – save, from my glass, mine own. Nor have I seen more that I may call men than you, good friend and my dear father.” Switching the father’s role into the mother’s at that point felt a little awkward and the overtones of sexism against Propsero in her banishment felt like it was shoehorning something into the text that detracted from the pure villany of those that ousted her. In contrast, gender-swapping the role of Gonzalo (Selina Cadell) makes perfect sense as of course it’s a woman who thinks about whether Prospero might need some books to read during her banishment. And Selina Cadell handles the text absolutely fluently, which makes the scenes between her and Alonso (Jude Akuwudike) skip by with a deftness that is lacking in other parts. Both actors have a good feel for the dynamics of the text, which perhaps gets missed in some of the longer Prospero speeches. Sigourney Weaver acts perfectly well but her Prospero doesn’t seem to have extremes of emotion, which I assume is a creative choice. Maybe I just find it harder to bond with Shakespeare when it’s in an American accent. She also had a kind of lisp, which again I assume was done on purpose, but was slightly strange. Not that the rest of the family noticed until I pointed it out in the interval so it can’t have been too obvious.

The cast was fairly lean – I think there were eleven of them in total which isn’t huge but almost twice the number that we saw at the Unicorn Theatre. That meant that some of the extra Lords didn’t appear, which is a common edit in this play, and the whole section with Juno, Ceres and Iris was cut. But there was one part per player, which made it all a lot easier to follow than when you’re watching a cast of six do it. The characters were also silently introduced during the opening scene, which would be helpful for anyone seeing this for the first time.

The comedy elements of “The Tempest” are always a highlight and this was no exception. I was impressed with Matthew Horne when we saw him in “Noises Off” and here he makes a very expressive Trinculo, teamed with Jason Barnett’s Stephano and Forbes Masson’s Caliban. Whenever the three of them are on stage, the show takes on a lighter and livelier feel – which is the nature of the comic relief, I suppose but it is much needed. Caliban’s outfit, as other reviewers have pointed out, verges on the gimpy and it takes a certain body confidence to pull off such a tight pair of pants. But his performance is great, as is Jason Barnett’s. The physical comedy is adept and their scenes are pacey and funny.

Mara Huf as Miranda and James Phoon as Ferdinand bounce around the landscape in their scenes, bringing a youthful vigour to the show. I didn’t recognise James Phoon as being from “Bridgerton” but it’s so obvious when I look at it now. We also spotted him at the stage door, giving a cheery wave to the assembled fans and thanking us for coming. The cast is rounded out with Oliver Ryan and Tim Steed as the scheming pair of Sebastian and Antonio and they exude evilness well as they consider adding a bit of regicide to their CV of treachery. So it’s a very solid cast, which I would cite if anyone accuses this production of relying on stunt casting alone.

But, and this is a big “but”, the pacing for some parts is way off. Maybe it’s just my famous lack of tolerance for anything slow moving but the denouement scene when all the players finally assemble was almost painfully slow. The monologues are drawn out and the actors walk in a slow circle around Prospero as if they too are waiting for the scene to end. It’s meant to be the emotional high point of the whole play as families are reunited and reconciled but it felt a bit flat. Having seen the plot done in around half the time might have just made me expect it to all be a bit faster and there is definitely value in lingering over some of the more poetic language…but there is a balance to be had.

I enjoyed it though and Nathan and the kids enjoyed it too. They’re better at slow moving things than I am.

On the way out, we lingered at the stage door for a while, which is where we spotted James Phoon, but sadly Sigourney was not planning to come out and say hello. It might be because it was a matinee and she had an evening performance to do but it was a bit of a disappointment, having had such a good stage door experience with DT. Ah well, let’s see how Tom Hiddleston and Ewan McGregor compare. Yes, we are fully bought into this stunt casting thing.

As we walked back towards Leicester Square, we also got a glimpse of the beautiful Royal Opera House from the back. Isn’t she pretty?

So, it’s very much a “make your own mind up” on this show. I can see why some were disappointed but I also think it’s probably improved since the previews. Apparently January tickets are going at a bargain rate so have a look at prices and more information here.

Wow, we have been ever so stage-y this half term. Macbeth last Friday evening, Musical Con on Saturday and yesterday Eva and her BFF went to see “Heathers” in Oxford. I’m not reviewing that one because I was in the office in a state of pastry-induced hysteria. But she got to wear her Veronica outfit again and they had a wonderful time by all accounts.

What I am going to review tho, is the missing piece of the mega-theatre puzzle – the anniversary trip Nathan and I took on Tuesday night to see Steve Coogan in “Dr Strangelove”. Yes, just the two of us and no kids. I’d heard about the show through a well-targeted Facebook ad and bought tickets as a birthday present for Nathan. It’s almost 6 weeks after his birthday but he’s not complaining – it’s gone on for a really long time this year. I expect the same for my 45th.

It’s been a while since I saw the Kubrick film but I had a fairly good idea of what to expect. Steve Coogan began his career as an impressionist, I believe, and I vaguely remember his switching of characters on “Coogan’s Run” so if anyone can pull off four characters (one more than Peter Sellers!) it’s probably him. I’ve always enjoyed Armando Iannucci’s work as well so that made me think this would be a good play. Until I looked at the cast list after the show, I would not have clocked that Peter from the 1980s “Narnia” TV show was also in it but….he was. I think his character was the one who had to go and buy fresh fish for Bakov. You’ll know what I mean if you’ve seen it.

So, a familiar story but I was looking forward to seeing how they’d bring it to life. It can be hard to transition from screen to stage but we’d seen a battleship appear in Stranger Things so surely a B-52 wouldn’t be too tricky?

The play starts with a song – “Try a Little Tenderness”, which I believe was used for the opening credits of the film. Having characters singing it live made me wonder if it was actually going to be “Strangelove: The Musical”, which I wouldn’t object to but it might be a bit of a shift in mood. But then the curtain opened on the set of General Ripper’s office and from then on, it was apocalyptic screwball comedy all the way.

Steve Coogan is in pretty much every scene so this first one was when he was playing the uptight Brit, Captain Mandrake. As someone who’s built his career on awkward British types, this was a very natural fit and the interplay between him and the All-American General Ripper (John Hopkins) was delightful. There’s not much time to establish the characters before the situation escalates into all-out chaos but it’s deftly handled and there’s a sense of tightly-controlled panic, especially when Ripper pulls the gun out for the first time.

The action then shifts to the War Room at the Pentagon and the second of Steve’s characters – the President. This is more of a straight-man role so, although he does a convincing American accent and sets up the gags nicely, it’s not the best showcase for his skills. But it’s a good, neutral filling between the slightly crazier slices of bread either side – the physical comedy of Mandrake and, of course, the eponymous Doctor. We’ll get to him.

First though, a shout out to the set designers. The giant War Room table appears as if from nowhere, complete with glasses and other breakable things that suggest they had to be a bit delicate putting it into place. The set feels very Kubrick in nature and I think the table in the film was green, just like this one was. Of course, that was a detail that was slightly lost on the viewing public seeing as the film was in black and white but Stan was just that kinda man. The significance of the green is meant to be like they’re playing poker with humanity, which is a nice bit of symbolism. We were a bit too high up to properly see “The Big Board” but there were screens in the boxes on the side, which showed what was on it so we didn’t miss out. Like the Russian Ambassador, we studied them with interest.

I won’t go through every individual actor as this was a fairly large cast, compared with some we’ve lately. The War Room scenes are very much an ensemble piece, with all the different Chiefs contributing to the madness. General Buck Turgidson (Giles Terera) and the aforementioned Russian Ambassador (Tony Jayawardena) are probably the stand-out characters in these scenes as they clash so frequently and almost come to blows (prompting the immortal line “Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here…this is the War Room”) . While these scenes were funny, I was almost distracted by watching for how they were going to swap President Coogan out for Dr Coogan. When it came to it, it wasn’t overly subtle…the President went to the back of the stage to make a call to the Vice President and remotely address a swimming gala. While his back is turned and he wanders in and out of view a few times, a wheelchair approaches from the left. To be fair, I don’t think it was ever meant to be a gasp-inducing illusion and it was done very smoothly. In fact, I didn’t notice the switch back and I really was watching out for it.

So, onto the titular character. Obviously the most extreme comedy character of the show and one that Steve Coogan was clearly having fun with. His German accent was a caricature but he kept it consistent and the jokes about his Nazi past were played with the right mix of shame and edginess. I wasn’t sure whether these kind of jokes would be acceptable in the age of trigger warnings but you can’t really have the character without them. I don’t think this production was looking to make any statements that were grander than “isn’t war a bit crappy?” and “things have not changed as much as we’d like since the 60s”. It certainly hit both those notes and looking at the world around us, with the US election coming up and all the various conflicts going on in the world….well, it is depressingly pertinent.

Act One ends with a bang, which is sad for anyone who wanted to know more about the Fluoride Conspiracy. But good for those of us who were craving some sugar – being right in the back row meant we were first in the ice cream queue and we had plenty of time to enjoy it while listening to an early 60s soundtrack – The Ronnettes and Elvis, among others. I should also say, having complained about the toilet situation at Macbeth, that there were no queues at all at Dr Strangelove. And us middle-aged women do appreciate that.

Act Two started with the appearance of the B-52 – and it really was impressively sized. I’d heard from the production team’s social media posts that this might be somewhat of a challenge but they aced it. Of course, it was one of many challenges that the team faced as getting Steve Coogan through a full costume change every scene (trousers and everything!) can’t have been easy. The B-52 contained Steve’s fourth character – the one played by Slim Pickens in the film. Apparently Peter Sellers was meant to play all four as well but apparently sprained his ankle and couldn’t work in the aircraft set. Again, this role is quite a broad comedy one – Texan accent, American bravado and a whole heap of communistophobia. Steve Coogan seems quite relaxed with this again, enjoying the caricature, and he seems to play it very naturally. I was trying to think on the way home which other actor would pull this off with such ease and I was kinda stumped. Maybe Reece Shearsmith? It certainly is a demanding play in every aspect – not just the costume changes but the number of lines to be learnt and all the physical comedy as well. But it’s a triumph.

I won’t say too much about the ending because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone else who might go. I mean, if you’ve seen the film you know what happens at the end but I was more thinking I didn’t want to spoil the surprise in the last scene. All I’ll say is it’s very in keeping with the film and leaves you somehow light-hearted despite how grim the reality would be if you thought about it too much.

So, all said, it’s a very faithful adaptation of the film and possibly has more laugh-out-loud moments. I did like the couple of lines that were clearly a bit of a modern update, such as when one of the men in the War Room acknowledged the gender imbalance around the table. But it largely feels nostalgic and in a good way. The cast are all superb and the set design, as previously mentioned, is very clever. Obviously Steve Coogan was the star many times over but the whole ensemble were great and it wouldn’t have worked if they hadn’t been so accurate on their marks (I don’t even know who the Mr President body double was but he was good at not giving the game away). I didn’t take the kids because they haven’t seen the film but actually, I think there’s plenty they’d enjoy here. And hopefully the play’s predictions won’t turn out to be too accurate….