@sohoplace

Part of the problem with The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is that the name gives away the ending. I mean, I don’t think anyone watching a musical based on the true story of a young Malawian boy who attempted to build a DIY wind turbine to save his village from a drought is expecting the story to end in doom and gloom. But I think it’s fair to say that just because William Kamkwamba did a genuinely astonishing thing aged 13, it doesn’t mean that his story provides enough material for a pitch-perfect 2.5-hour musical. In fairness, there is probably a more exciting way to do this, but it would presumably involve taking a lot of artistic liberties, and deviating from the narrative as set out by Kamkwamba’s original book and the Chiwetel Ejiofor 2019 film adaptation. Unfortunately, Richy Hughes’ text really labours it, trundling to an outcome that is never at any point in doubt when it might have worked better either really trying to get inside protagonist William’s head, or else simply being an hour shorter. Moaning about all this does sell Lynette Linton’s genuinely delightful RSC production short. Debuting earlier this year at the smaller Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, this musical was always intended for a more intimate space, and the in-the-round @sohoplace is the most intimate space in the West End. It’s particularly lovely how – rather than starting with a bang – it just kind of sneaks up on you, the cast (playing Malawian villagers) cheerily wandering on and...

A deliciously esoteric project here from @sohoplace, which gives over its entire summer to Tao of Glass, a highly theatrical staging of ‘ten meditations on life, death and Taoist wisdom’ by Brit theatre legend Phelim McDermott (best known now for his smash staging of My Neighbour Totoro) set to ten specially written pieces from the legendary US avant-garde composer Philip Glass. The show premiered in Manchester back in 2019 to warm reviews and now it finally maps a London run – a genuinely bold and thrilling piece of programming.

The first major West End revival of Edward Albee’s classic play in a decade has a cast to die for, as Billy Crudup and Gillian Anderson play the iconically awful George and Martha, an acidic middle aged couple who invite George’s young colleague Nick and his wife Honey over for a bizarre evening of weird and problematic game playing. And @sohoplace is a wonderfully intimate venue to watch the horrors unfold. The catch is that the show is heavily sold out, though at time of writing there were a decent number of more expensive tickets available across the run. The great Marianne Elliott will direct a cast that’s rounded out by Josh Dylan as Nick, and Phoebe Horn as Honey.