Back to the Future: The Musical ★★★★★ Adelphi Theatre | From September 13, 2021


The future of the theatre is here! Whether you are a fan of the film franchise or have never seen one of the movie blockbusters, you will love this show. It's a wonderful immersive experience that captures all of the fun and silliness of the original while taking theatrical spectacle to a whole new level. Finn Ross (video design) and Tim Lutkin (lighting design) really have pulled out all the stops. The visual effects are quite stunning, but the great thing here is that the terrific cast of performers are not overwhelmed by these production values. We completely shared Olly Dobson's wonder as he created a completely credible Marty McFly, and Roger Bart was wonderfully goofy as Doc Brown, the unlikely inventor of the time machine. The other stand-out for us was Hugh Coles as the awkward, endearing George McFly. Kudos also to Rosanna Hyland (Lorraine Baines) and Aidan Cutler (Biff). For this production, Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard have contributed several new songs but the old favourites "Power of Love" and "Johnny B. Goode" remain the show's highlights. Strong choreography by Chris Bailey, on-the-mark sets by Tim Hatley and deft direction by John Rando – it all worked for us. Power up the DeLorean! We can easily imagine ourselves going back to this Future again and again.

Rated: ★★★★★

Reviewed by S.B.
Photo by Sean Ebsworth Barnes.

Want to save on tickets? See our Tips page.

When, Where, Getting there:
Map & Location: Strand, London WC2R 0NS, UK

Most Popular

St. Martin in-the-fields: Lunchtime Concerts ★★★★ FREE

Image
Maybe the best musical value in London. The lunchtime concerts at St. Martin's are always a wonderful way to escape the hustle and bustle that is London and the sensory overload that is Trafalgar Square. This is a beautiful setting with great acoustics, and a church pew hard enough to make sure you don't nod off. Reviewed by J.C.  Our score:    ☆☆☆☆  WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE: Mon & Fri: 1 pm - 1:45 pm ( occasionally Tues & Thurs)  St. Martin in-the-fields, Trafalgar Square Nearest tube: Charing Cross https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/whats-on
Full Details »

Arcadia ★★★★★ The Old Vic | Jan 24 - Mar 21, 2026

Image
This splendid revival of Tom Stoppard’s masterpiece is definitely one of this year’s must-see productions. Intellectually demanding yet fizzing with wit, the play is brought vividly to life by a uniformly outstanding ensemble. Seamus Dillane is superb as the rakish tutor Septimus Hodge, delivering a performance of effortless charm and sly intelligence, while Matthew Steer is irresistibly funny as the mock poet/scientist and hapless cuckold Ezra Chater. Isis Hainsworth is luminous as the prodigy Thomasina, blending youthful grace with startling intellectual authority, and Fiona Button is deliciously bold as her mother, the gloriously predatory Lady Croom. Set in both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Arcadia explores how we confront death and search for meaning in our lives. Its title suggests Poussin's pastoral painting with the tombstone in its foreground, et in Arcadia ego . Faced with this existential problem, the play suggests two possible routes to understanding: scienc...
Full Details »

Beautiful Little Fool ★★ Southwark Playhouse, Borough | January 15 - Feb 28, 2026

Image
The story of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald is a love affair and a tragedy seemingly made for the stage. He was a brilliant writer who descended into alcoholism and was largely forgotten by the time of his death. She was his muse, and possibly his collaborator, who died in a fire at the asylum where she had finally found some measure of peace. Together, they came to symbolise the Jazz Age, that feverish period of reckless hedonism between the world wars, driven by aimlessness and quiet despair. In Beautiful Little Fool , their story is narrated by their only daughter, Scottie, as she wanders through an archive filled with the remnants of her parents’ lives. One of the challenges of dramatising real people is shaping a narrative that serves a clear purpose while leaving out biographical details that, though intriguing, do not fit thematically. The musical never fully overcomes this challenge. Unnecessary anecdotes, such as the story of Gertrude Stein coining the term “Lost Generation,” appe...
Full Details »

BIGRE / “Fish Bowl” ★★★★ Sadler's Wells Peacock Theatre | Jan 28 - 31, 2026

Image
The art of mime has deep theatrical roots in France, evolving from commedia dell’arte and 19th-century pantomime into a modern form centred on gesture, silence, and physical storytelling. In the 20th century, Marcel Marceau elevated mime to international prominence through his character Bip and his poetic, wordless exploration of human emotion. At the same time, filmmaker Jacques Tati brought mimetic comedy to cinema, using precise physicality and keen observation to satirise modern life through his iconic Monsieur Hulot. This tradition is closely linked to silent film comedy, where meaning is carried through movement rather than speech. Like Marceau and Tati, silent-era figures such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton relied on gesture, timing, and physical invention to convey character and emotion, revealing a shared visual language of humour and poetry beyond words. The Compagnie Le Fils du Grand Réseau continues this lineage by translating French mime and visual comedy into a con...
Full Details »

Cable Street ★★★ Marylebone Theatre | Jan 16 - Feb 28, 2026

Image
In 1936, Oswald Mosley and his British Union of Fascists planned to march through a working-class, multicultural area of East London that was home to many Jewish and immigrant families. When they entered the area they were met with unexpected resistance. The musical Cable Street recounts this historic event from the perspectives of three families: the Scheinbergs, the Kennys and the Williams. Aspiring Jewish boxer Sammy Scheinberg and Irish communist Mairead Kenny lead the opposition to the BUF march, while the unemployed and disaffected Ron Williams becomes involved on the other side of the conflict. The story is framed by a present-day tourist tour of Cable Street, led by Sammy’s nephew and followed by Mairead’s daughter. The characters in Cable Street are fairly one-dimensional, reflecting the polemical nature of the piece, and the cast assumes multiple roles with minimal costume changes and some gender-blind casting, which can occasionally cause confusion. Despite these limitati...
Full Details »

ABBA Voyage ★★★★★ ABBA Arena, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park | Extended Run

Image
When great music from the past meets mind boggling technology from the future, the result is ABBA Voyage . This is a concert like no other. In a purpose built arena designed specifically for the show, massive high resolution LED screens, advanced lighting, and surround sound are used to create a fully immersive ABBA concert experience. Although the group’s last appearance in London was at Wembley Arena in 1979, they return technologically in this extraordinary production. These are not holograms or AI generated performances. This is a meticulously animated concert based on real performances by the band themselves. To achieve this effect, the group came together and re-performed their music using motion capture technology. They partnered with top visual effects experts to digitally recreate their younger selves. While the show includes a live band and backup singers, the Agnetha, Björn, Benny, and Anni-Frid seen on stage appear every bit as real as their original counterparts. One quick...
Full Details »

Samurai ★★★★★ The British Museum | Feb 3 - May 4, 2026

Image
“Samurai.” The word conjures images of fierce Japanese warriors in elaborate helmets with swords drawn, but this superb presentation reveals that there is far more to know about this class that came to dominate Japan’s political life and whose legacy still lingers in many aspects of contemporary culture. Structured in three sections, Rise of the Samurai AD 800 to 1600, The Long Peace 1600 to the 1850s and After the Samurai 1876 to the present , the exhibition demonstrates the importance of the samurai, both men and women, not only in warfare but also in the governance and cultural development of Japan. Bringing together more than two hundred and eighty objects from twenty nine lenders, the show offers a rich array of flamboyant helmets and intricate armour, alongside depictions of combat in scrolls by masters such as Hiroshige. There are also revealing glimpses behind the public image the samurai sought to project. Displays of smoking accoutrements, a popular pastime for both male and ...
Full Details »

Turner & Constable: Rivals & Originals ★★★★★ Tate Britain | Until April 12, 2026

Image
Broken into twelve sections, this comprehensive exhibition traces the parallel careers of two of England’s most important landscape artists with insight and illumination. Emerging from very different backgrounds and approaching their subjects in markedly different ways, J. M. W. Turner and John Constable each occupy a singular place in the British imagination. The exhibition follows the development of their careers, presents outstanding examples of their work, and considers their lasting influence on contemporary artists. While Constable was born into relative privilege and remained deeply rooted in the Stour Valley, Turner was the son of a barber and wig-maker whose restless curiosity led him to travel widely. Both artists were recognised early by the Royal Academy and enjoyed considerable success during their lifetimes. Constable’s devotion to working outdoors is emphasised and set against Turner’s famously chaotic studio practice. Visitors can sense Constable’s pleasure in local fie...
Full Details »

Man and Boy ★★★★ National Theatre | Jan 30 - Mar 14, 2026

Image
Terence Rattigan worked on his play Man and Boy from 1954 until its first production in 1963. It was intended as a statement of his continued relevance in a British theatre transformed by the arrival of figures such as John Osborne in the late 1950s. Set in the 1930s in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash, the play is a pointed critique of capitalism at its most ruthless. At its centre is Gregor Antonescu, a figure of unrelenting ambition and amoral callousness. Even Patrick Bateman from American Psycho appears to be a rather low-level hustler by comparison. In this current version of Rattigan’s drama, Antonescu is even willing to pimp out his own son. His venal materialism is painted in broad strokes, and Ben Daniels plays the character with an over-the-top energy and swagger, cajoling and conning anyone who stands between him and his goals. His humiliation of the accountant who believes he has uncovered Antonescu's fraud is wonderfully arch, and Leo Wan as David Beeston reca...
Full Details »

American Psycho ★★★★★ Almeida Theatre | Jan 22 - Mar 14, 2026

Image
The novel and film American Psycho were a satire on the superficiality and materialism of young financial professionals in New York City in the 1980s. The musical adaptation premiered at the Almeida Theatre in 2013 under its then new artistic director, Rupert Goold, and it now returns as his final production before leaving the post. With a second Trump term underway, this story of over-polished surfaces concealing a psychotic killer utterly devoid of values takes on a renewed and deeply ironic resonance. It is easy to read the central character, Patrick Bateman, as representative of America itself. References to Trump and other cultural icons within the 1980s setting enrich the parody and prompt the audience's knowing laughter which is sharpened by hindsight. The values of the Reagan era can be seen as inevitably leading to the current state of American politics. The production is beautifully choreographed by Lynne Page and superbly acted throughout. Arty Froushan is suitably slim...
Full Details »

The City Life Magazine | Reviews & Ratings