★★★★

“Moving, intelligent and beautifully acted”

Ten years after its Royal Court premiere and Broadway success – receiving two Tony award nominations – ‘The Children’ returns to London with undiminished urgency. A study of people in crisis and generational responsibility, this gripping revival pulses with life, loss and the duties that remain.

After a coastal nuclear disaster, Hazel and Robin scrape a life from the fallout. When an old friend drops in unannounced, buried secrets bubble to the surface. But Rose’s real reason for visiting changes everything. Will they be strong enough to face it?

Written by the award-winning Lucy Kirkwood, ‘The Children’ creates almost uncomfortably real characters. Hazel desperately distracts herself from her own mortality, while self-destructive Robin stares death in the face. Then Rose sweeps in like a rogue wave, steeling herself for a devastating request. It’s a deliciously tangled knot of guilt, denial and responsibility, deftly capturing ordinary people in crisis. Despite its apocalyptic backdrop, the dialogue remains deeply human as people struggle to articulate or conceal their true feelings. The overlapping rhythms feel effortlessly natural, shot through with revealingly sharp humour. And there’s never a wasted detail, everything returning with greater meaning. My only niggles are the intricate plotting perhaps feels a touch too thorough, leaving less space for ambiguity, and it takes a beat longer to wrap up than it could – though to be fair, Hazel’s need for order is entirely true to character. Ultimately, Kirkwood’s writing is deeply moving.

Under Rachel O’Riordan’s assured direction, the humanity hits home. Bristling tension dares you to pick at the web of old wounds. The characters and their relationships feel fully developed, and the pacing is brisk and engaging – though it does slacken a tad towards the close. The movement is subtle yet purposeful, strategically mirroring shifting alliances. Overall, it’s a strong, powerfully crafted revival worthy of its tenth anniversary.

The design beautifully serves the script while adding its own artful flair. Gary McCann’s striking set is full of contrasts: Hazel and Robin’s homely existence squats beneath dark, unbending steel, and tiny glimpses of a realistic sea are offset by the stage’s uneasy tilt. McCann’s costumes subtly reveal and conceal personalities. Anna Watson’s lighting pits domestic warmth against industrial chill, while Holly Khan’s soundscape blends natural and mechanical sounds to unnerving effect – especially the almost imperceptible rumble that quietly raises tension. Campbell Young Associates’ unexpectedly powerful wigs, hair and make-up design drives home the human stakes.

Declan Conlon, Kerry Fox and Meera Syal nail the fraught dynamic of friends with history. Conlon sparkles with devilish charm as Robin, softening his rougher edges just enough land the final reconciliation. Fox makes Rose’s intrusion feel both unsettling and inevitable, balancing steely resolve with honest vulnerability. Syal expertly channels Hazel’s determined denial and frantic fear, though a little more contrast in places would make the performance even stronger.

Moving, intelligent and beautifully acted, catch ‘The Children’ while you can.

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

Theatre Royal Windsor

★★★★

“Director David Esbjornson lures us into this world before slamming the doors and keeping us captive – and captivated – for the next two hours”

Stephen King’s short story, on which the stage adaptation of “The Shawshank Redemption” is based, was titled ‘Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption’. We only learn the significance of the reference to the star of the Golden Age of Hollywood in the final moments of the play, but it is an uplifting moment which epitomises the feelings of joy and hope that pop up in what is essentially a grim and desperate setting.

Set in the maximum-security wing of the Shawshank penitentiary, Owen O’Neill’s and Dave Johns’ epic interpretation spans a couple of decades with its tale of a man wrongfully imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. That man is Andy Dufresne, wonderfully played by Joe McFadden with a mixture of vulnerability and bravado, who uses his well-heeled banking background to ingratiate himself with the other inmates and the guards. It is a precarious tightrope he walks, and he frequently falls into the pit of violence and backstabbing that is prevalent – particularly among the warden and the guards who are just as crooked as the prisoners.

Director David Esbjornson lures us into this world before slamming the doors and keeping us captive – and captivated – for the next two hours. Gary McCann’s stark two-tiered set creates the prison day room with its balcony from which other prisoners – and prison guards – watch, heckle and interrupt the action below. The audience feel part of that assembly, encouraged by long-term jailbird Ellis ‘Red’ Redding who acts as narrator. Crossing the line between stage and auditorium, Ben Onwukwe gives a remarkable performance as ‘Red’, the prison ‘fixer’ who somehow manages to get whatever contraband his cell mates require. Onwukwe somehow manages to secure our sympathy too, which fills us with a guilty pleasure as we wonder how it is possible to warm to a man who is a self-confessed double murderer.

But then we wonder who the real villains of the piece are. Warden Stammas takes self-interest to extremes as he ignores justice, law and morality to serve his own agenda, willingly dispensing with others’ lives and freedoms. Owen Oldroyd (stepping in for Bill Ward who plays Stammas for the rest of the run) captures the cool menace as he wields his power with a deceptive stillness. The prison hierarchy is vividly illustrated with the peripheral characters establishing their own powerful personalities. Sean Kingsley’s intimidating ‘Bogs Diamond’ and sidekick ‘Rooster’ (a wonderful Ashley D Gale complete with a sinister hyena-like cackle) form the ‘sisters’ who attempt to hold sway through sexual violence. Meanwhile there is Kenneth Jay’s ‘Brooksie’, the librarian who cuts a tragic figure so institutionalised he can’t cope with his parole. Through all of this, the central figure of Andy Dufrense maintains his own innocence. McFadden never lets his character give up despite the odds, taking the knocks with understated defiance and an inbuilt sense of optimism. A vestige of hope comes in the form of Tommy (Kyle Harrison-Pope) who claims he knows the real culprit behind the murders for which Andy was accused. Tragedy soon dashes that hope.

The structure is episodic and time passes in fits and starts. Suddenly a decade can fly by without us noticing, but Onwukwe is on hand to give us context. Chris Davey’s lighting certainly gives us the sense of place with its cool washes – panoramic and moody but concentrated when necessary. Sepulchral spotlights surrounded by shadows evocatively display the isolation. Faultless performances highlight, when not in their solitary confinement, the precarious camaraderie that exists, although occasionally the bonhomie can eclipse the true sense of danger and brutality. But even if the physical savagery doesn’t quite come across, the potency is shocking. “The Shawshank Redemption” is an enthralling picture of this world, and how people adjust to it, whether they are placed there justifiably or not. ‘Redemption’ is a double-edged sword. I’m not going to tell you if it lives up to its title, but I’d strongly urge you to find out.

Tag Archives: Gary McCann

THE CHILDREN

★★★★

Lyric Hammersmith

THE CHILDREN

Lyric Hammersmith

★★★★

“Moving, intelligent and beautifully acted”

THE CHILDREN

Lyric Hammersmith

Reviewed on 12th September 2026

by Hannah Bothelton

Photography by Helen Maybanks

The Children

The Children

The Children

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

★★★★

UK Tour

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

Theatre Royal Windsor

★★★★

“Director David Esbjornson lures us into this world before slamming the doors and keeping us captive – and captivated – for the next two hours”