MILES

Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★★

“a heartfelt tribute to one of the greats”

Biographical dramas are not uncommon on the theatre scene, and in the wrong hands they can become quite dull affairs. Oliver Kaderbhai’s exploration of the jazz genius Miles Davies is, without a doubt, in the right hands (in fact co-star Jay Phelps often plays the trumpet with just his right hand, leaving his left to knock out some modular chords on the piano). Kaderbhai doesn’t just pull back the curtain on Miles Davies himself, but he manages to get some way inside his head and convey the creative process of his work – in particular ‘Kind of Blue’ – the 1959 studio album recorded in two sessions with a band of the most acclaimed musicians of the time. With only rough sketches as guidelines, the tracks were laid down in one take. No score – just vague chord structures (this is modal jazz, after all). Almost wholly improvised.

“Miles” retains that improvised feel. But it is intentional, and similarly dazzlingly polished. At its core is an imagined conversation between Miles Davies (Benjamin Akintuyosi) and trumpeter Jay Phelps, but the exchange extends to a tête-à-tête between the man and his music. We are drawn into the life of Davies, reliving the experiences that shaped his art. The racism, segregation, the newfound freedom of Paris. The defiance, the hardships and the battles with addiction.

On entering the space, we feel we are wandering into a basement studio. A grand piano is centre stage, with a reel-to-reel tape recorder. Draped across the piano is a figure, motionless – until the houselights fade, when the resurrections begins. Phelps, who came up with the concept, plays a modern-day jazz musician, struggling to compose an album under pressure from his record company to meet a deadline. Akintuyosi is Miles – not just a ghostly incarnation but a fully-formed mentor and conscience to Phelps. The air is as hazy as Miles’ chain-smoking habit, but the depiction of the characters cuts through like crystal. Akintuyosi perfectly captures the ragged and raspy voice and no-nonsense directness of Miles. “Why are you playing so many notes?” are his first words to Phelps. He guides with a hard hand, but we also see the inner struggles, and the moments of self-doubt that geniuses are often pray to. It is a stylish and stylised performance, demonstrating his physical dexterity too.

Phelps is a virtuoso trumpeter in his own right. He is learning from Miles, but soaks up the same self-doubt. There is no need for his diffidence, we think, as we are treated to his musicianship, playing along to recorded backing tracks of the music from ‘Kind of Blue’. The atmosphere is electric. Alex Lewer’s lighting enhances the mood while Colin J Smith’s video projections introduce other musical giants of the era: Charlie parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, John Coltrane. The story telling is peppered with musical flourishes and stylistic overtones. Peripheral characters are represented by costumes on their hangers; a newborn baby is a puppet in a boxing glove. And the depiction of Miles spiralling into cold turkey is quite shocking, with Akintuyosi clinging onto the piano as it spins out of control. Fragments of his trumpet crash to the floor.

The pieces are left on the ground, but the story is picked up again with renewed energy and an irresistible optimism. As Phelps finds his own voice, the need for Miles fades, yet the legacy is by now firmly embedded. Left alone centre stage, he launches into Thelonious Monk’s ‘Round Midnight’ with a contemporary looped rhythm accompaniment. The mix of the old and the new is mesmerising as the notes float into the air.

Jazz fans will no doubt reap the most satisfaction from this show, but it in no way alienates the wider audience. Everybody who sees it will come away wanting to listen to ‘Kind of Blue’, and then hopefully branch out to discover more of Miles Davies’ output. This isn’t a history lesson; it is a heartfelt tribute to one of the greats.

MILES

Southwark Playhouse Borough

Reviewed on 9th February 2026

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Colin J Smith

Miles

★★★★

“a fascinating piece much like the women it presents”

If you’re intrigued by the idea of particle physics presented as a cabaret show involving four energetic performers stepping in and out of a variety of roles, Emma Howlett’s Aether is for you. Sixty minutes on the subject of an inscrutable universe will also give you a glancing introduction to female scientists from Hypatia in ancient Alexandria to Vera Rubin, who discovered dark matter. Meanwhile Sophie, the high powered PhD student and our protagonist, attempts to juggle particle physics and a troubled relationship with her physician girlfriend in the present day.

The feminist angle to Aether is important because it highlights perennial problems faced by female scientists working in fields dominated by men. From Hypatia’s brutal murder in ancient Alexandria to undeserved obscurity for ground breaking discoveries in recent times, women’s discoveries have been ignored or even erased. Sophie, on the other hand, has begun her career as a physicist by talking herself into a prestigious research programme that has included time at CERN, the place where every ambitious PhD student hopes to work. She is further encouraged to keep going by her tough and determined supervisor, even when Sophie is tempted to quit because she isn’t finding any answers in the enormous amounts of data she has to work through. But is it the unanswerable nature of the questions she is asking about the universe the real reason Sophie wants to quit, or is it her faltering relationship with her girlfriend? It’s not a dilemma that male scientists have admitted to in the past. Nor is it likely to gain much sympathy in any academic field where the stars are on track to win a Nobel Prize early in their careers.

There’s almost too much packed into the sixty minutes, even with the inventiveness of performers Gemma Barnett, Sophie Kean, Anna Marks Pryce and Abby McCann. Aether is part lecture, part drama. Some of the women we’re introduced to, such as magician Adelaide Herrmann, or medium Florence Cook, fit uneasily alongside a detailed explanation of Plato’s Cave, and a list of quarks to memorize. The show dazzles with the sheer amount of information presented, but there’s a risk of audience burnout. It’s not hard to identify with Sophie’s description of protons being hurled out of a Large Hadron Collider. Perhaps a longer play, and a slower pace with the lecture parts, might give the audience a chance to catch up. It is about important themes, and Sophie’s ambition, like that of playwright Howlett, deserves a chance to find the answers that every woman working in a difficult field deserves.

This play is a fascinating piece much like the women it presents. If it sends you out of the theatre with more questions than answers, don’t feel disappointed. Aether reminds us that good theatre, like good science, is worth the work it takes to understand. There’s a large universe out there, just waiting to be explored.

Tag Archives: Ellie Wintour

MILES

★★★★

Southwark Playhouse Borough

MILES

Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★★

“a heartfelt tribute to one of the greats”