FANNY

King’s Head Theatre

★★★½

“The cast’s evident delight in working together makes the production shine”

When Queen Victoria sang her favourite Mendelssohn composition, she had no idea the piece was written by Felix’s older sister. Fanny by Calum Finlay transforms that artistic erasure into a madcap domestic comedy. Audiences will embrace its energy, humour, and unapologetically loud celebration of a brilliant woman fighting to be heard.

Fanny Mendelssohn is trapped in an impossible bind. She’s a brilliant composer who must focus on marriage prospects rather than her musical talent. Fanny intercepts a royal invitation for her brother Felix to premiere a new work for Queen Victoria. Determined to take his place at the palace, Fanny unleashes a charmingly chaotic, laugh-a-minute escapade.

Finlay’s achievement lies in his astute portrayal of family dynamics. Felix (Daniel Abbott) is the confident golden boy coasting on privilege; Paul (Jeremy Lloyd) is the misunderstood, unappreciated brother; Rebecka (Danielle Phillips) is the younger sister, seething with frustration; and Fanny (Charlie Russell) burns with a talent that puts her at odds with familial expectations. Mother Lea (Kim Ismay) anchors the production. A thoroughly accomplished actress, she holds the ensemble together. The cast’s evident delight in working together makes the production shine.

But the true star is Charlie Russell who pulls the audience into her world with charisma, infectious energy and intelligent comic precision. Her fantasy orchestral conducting sequences are transformed by Movement Director Phao Wheatley into theatrical gold – these and the various chase scenes are production highlights.

Of course, one of the show’s great treats is the score itself. Yshani Perinpanayagam’s musical direction brings the Mendelssohn compositions to soaring life – whichever sibling penned these pieces, the music is glorious. Audiences will leave eager to hear more.

Each cast member takes several roles, so costume design (Sophia Pardon assisted by Emily Nelson) is particularly important. Pardon deftly manages each outfit change, subtly orienting the audience with unspoken messages about social class and location. Pardon’s set design and use of props wring maximum effect from an evidently minimal budget. David Howe’s lighting enhances the story as it twists from the inner world of Fanny composing to family dynamics to outside scenes.

The production’s weakness lies in not trusting the story to make its own point. There’s no need to spell out the moral lesson in additional speeches. This holds the production back from four-star greatness.

Still, this remains highly entertaining theatre. Think collaborative inclusivity rather than West End slick. Director Katie-Ann McDonough brings audiences into the creative process, helming a spirited, joyous production ideal for school trips or families with older teens. This is accessible comedy that raises serious questions about artistic ownership, feminism and work/life balance. The audience participation – representing orchestra sections – generates the laughs and collective investment that younger audiences will love. Be prepared for loud, energetic theatre that won’t suit every mood but will delight those ready to embrace its exuberant spirit.

The traditional Irish Noble Call is planned to follow each performance – inviting female-identifying musicians to share their work.

Fanny Mendelssohn deserved better than history gave her, and this production goes some way towards righting that wrong.

FANNY

King’s Head Theatre

Reviewed on 16th October 2025

by Elizabeth Botsford

Photography by David Monteith-Hodge – Photographise

FANNY

Spike

Watermill Theatre

Reviewed – 31st January 2022

★★★★

“John Dagleish embodies Spike Milligan in a memorably empathetic way”

This tribute to the comedy legend Spike Milligan is the work of ‘Private Eye’ editor Ian Hislop and his colleague and friend Nick Newman. It coincides with the 20th anniversary of the death of this renowned writer of the BBC’s anarchic radio comedy show ‘The Goon Show’, which ran from 1951 to 1960.

Many under the age of 45 will be barely aware of Milligan, who as Stephen Fry, in the guise of a BBC announcer, points out at the end of the show, was comedic gold for generations that followed him. ‘The Goon Show’ was a brilliantly disruptive success for the Corporation, even if the managers there didn’t quite understand it. It remains available online to this day.

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There are jokes and madcap nonsense by the box load in this warm and affectionate play which grew out of a reading of the extensive and argumentative correspondence between Milligan and the BBC. Spike discovered the BBC was run by the same officer class he’d resented in wartime. Why, he wanted to know, was the writer of the show paid a fraction of that given to the ‘talent’ Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers? And what was wrong with poking fun at royalty?

The play is structured as a loose series of chronologically arranged scenes beginning with the very early days of ‘The Goon Show’, just six years after the end of the Second World War. The BBC was male-dominated then. By way of balance, Margaret Cabourn-Smith opens the show as the likeably goofy sound effects girl who like her colleague the Head of Drama’s Secretary, ‘will some day run the place’.

Robert Mountford is the entertainingly preening BBC executive who is quick to give Spike a dressing down that flips him to the nightmares of wartime. John Dagleish embodies Spike Milligan in a memorably empathetic way. He has the look of Spike, who he imagines as a troubled and inward looking outsider, still fighting a war at the BBC.

Jeremy Lloyd gives an excellent impersonation of the young Harry Secombe and the trio of Goons is completed by George Kemp (of Bridgerton) as a suave and smooth-talking Peter Sellers. James Mack gives a tour-de-force performance as the harried Director of ‘The Goon Show’. Ellie Morris memorably plays Spike’s inevitably long-suffering wife, June, as well as other roles.

‘Spike’ is probably at its best in the second half when we see a Goon Show being recorded. If the ending of the play was slightly unexpected (and there was no ‘Ying Tong iddle-i-po’!), it was hard to imagine how else to bring down such a hugely entertaining show.

Spike Milligan once joked that he’d be remembered as the man who ‘wrote the Goons and then died’. This show is an enjoyable celebration of his life’s work and a feast of nostalgic fun that will delight audiences of all ages.

Tag Archives: Jeremy Lloyd

FANNY

★★★½

King’s Head Theatre

FANNY

King’s Head Theatre

★★★½

“The cast’s evident delight in working together makes the production shine”