Genuine spectacle this extravagant theatrical event I sure to please ardent fans of the TV show as well as leave newbies in awe at the sure scale of the events unfolding on the Stage.

The production feels almost cinematic in nature, embracing the feel of the Netflix TV phenomenon with an absolute glut of easter eggs and treats for the diehards. This is predominantly down to Miriam Buether’s lavish sets which feel like something out of a theme park movie tour in scale. I will avid any spoilers but within the first 10 minutes your jaw is hanging open at the sheer vastness of what is created before us. Revolves and physically imposing set pieces merge seamlessly with the Video, Illusions and visual effects provided by Jamie Harrison, Chris Fisher and 59 Productions. There are many times visually where we are just left aghast at what they have managed to achieve and it’s easy, in this age of superhero spectacle movies, to forget what we are seeing is physically happening rather than a post-production CGI edit.

The script can at points feel slightly too eager to emphasis its meta-theatricality (including a rather shoe-horned in musical number which feels at odds to the piece as a whole) and lags a bit in the second act but these are minor criticisms which are overshadowed by the plethora of pitch perfect performances and masterful direction form Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin who keep such a kinetic flow to a piece that in lesser hands could feel disjointed.

It is difficult to believe we are watching Louis McCartney’s stage debut as he keeps us eating out of his hand for the entire 3 hours. An electrifying presence which just begs for us to keep engaged. Some expert casting gives us Christopher Buckley as Bob Newby and Isabella Pappas as Joyce Maldonado. They so perfectly pitch their performances that fans of the show will one hundred percent believe they are watching the younger counterparts of Sean Astin and Winona Ryder. Isavella Pappas really proves herself a driving force for the productions and we follow her eagerly through the story.

The piece is so closely interwoven with the series that it feels more like watching a two-part special in a cinema and I do wonder to the uninitiated how easy it would be to follow. We do long to see slightly more character journey but to moan about that would be to completely miss the point of the piece. It would be like going into a James Bond movie and saying there were too many explosions.

This is a sheer theatrical display of money, might, action and illusion. I can’t see much appetite for a revival in future as it’s timed perfectly to coincide between series. It is a five-star show. That does not necessarily mean flawless but to give it nay less would be disingenuous to the event of
the evening.

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