★★★

“a tough piece to engage with”

‘The Wanderers’, directed by Igor Golyak, maps two different marriages within the Jewish experience: one, an Orthodox and very traditional family, and another – set pretty much now – a liberal, well-educated couple from Brooklyn. Abe, (Alex Forsyth) the protagonist, binds the two units together as the son of the former. He is a prolific and successful novelist who is heavily inspired by Philip Roth (a minor warning sign). He and his wife Sophie are both writers, but she has subdued her own (less successful) career to service her husband’s very successful one whilst she cares for the children. After one of his book readings, Abe begins an ethically dubious and emotionally charged email affair with famous actor, Julia (Anna Popplewell). But all is not as it seems.

It is the visual language and metaphor of this play which elevates it. The set (Jan Pappelbaum) features a transparent screen divides the stage horizontally. It is engaged with in a multitude of creative ways, holding much symbolic weight. Throughout the piece, different characters draw props and key words onto the screen. This is very striking: for example, a square becomes a laptop dividing two characters engaged in their email correspondence. This device also cleverly externalises Abe and Sophie’s writerly minds – a useful way of expressing rich interiority. Golyak’s visual landscape here is both attractive and idiosyncratic.

It does, however, work to compensate for the for subpar dialogue and plot. Given that ‘The Wanderers’ centres around two – supposedly excellent – writers, it’s hard to cognitively marry this with the demonstrably unimaginative dialogue and action. The characters, though well-acted, are uncompelling and lack charisma, which makes the whole piece a bit of a schlep.

The acting, to reiterate, is successful. Popplewell is lovely as famous actor, Julia. So too is Katerina Tannenbaum as beleaguered Esther, who spends most of her time drowning in the misery of marital misogyny and boredom. Paksie Vernon as Abe’s maligned wife works well and with integrity. Forsyth is also very watchable, even if his character, unlike his wife, lacks any discernible integrity. Part of the issue here derives from the fact that this show focuses on a sort of male fantasy, inspired by the Philip Roth imaginary. Personally, I feel that angle has been rinsed, and in the absence of nuanced comment to develop this discourse in any way, it flounders as the premise for a show.

It’s hard to pinpoint the purpose of this play: there are gestures towards inherited fictions and the traps of imagination, but these are not adequately developed. Besides the visual spectacle, aided by some excellent lighting (Alex Musgrave), it’s a tough piece to engage with. Not tough to grapple with conceptually, but tough to discern the concepts in the first place.

A big commendation should be noted though: majority of the cast and creative team are actually Jewish – a rarity in the field of representation. We should celebrate Jewish theatre, but I don’t know what the Jewishness in this play offered, or really what ‘The Wanderers’ was trying to offer as a piece of art.

CHARLEY’S AUNT

Watermill Theatre

★★★★★

“Rob Madge’s adaptation is an education”

“Charley’s Aunt” is one of the most successful and enduring British farces of all time. Written by Brandon Thomas, it premiered in London in 1892 and has been hugely popular ever since. Its absurd plot, fast paced humour and clever use of mistaken identity and cross-dressing make it a hallmark of archetypal farce, influencing many later comedies, films and sitcoms.

In this joyous new adaptation, superbly directed by Sophie Drake, this classic Victorian play has been given a glow-up by Rob Madge, the award winning creator of My Son’s a Queer (But What can you do?). From the moment you enter the auditorium, the diversity of the audience, the outrageous pink set and the sound of Dora Jar, Doja Cat and Gil Berg leave you in no doubt where we are heading for the night. Rob Madge said ‘how do we tackle gender bending being used as a comedic trope in this current age?’ Well they have managed to recycle and repurpose a brilliant farce, bring it bang up to date and make Charley’s Aunt as relevant to our society as it was to the Victorians.

The plot remains roughly the same, ambiguously set in Victorian times, but with some amusing modern phrases and twists – satisfyingly stronger roles for the women being a positive addition. Two young Oxford Undergraduates, Jack Chesney (Benjamin Westerby) and Charley Wykeham (a quite hilarious performance by Jonathan Case), want to propose to their girlfriends Kitty Verdun (Yasmin Özdemir) and Amy Spettigue (Mae Munuo). Their proposal is thwarted by rigid social etiquette and the need to have a proper chaperone present – Charley’s wealthy Aunt, Donna Lucia d’Alvadorez (a fabulously restrained Maggie Service) is supposed to arrive from Brazil, but when she doesn’t show up, they have to find someone to dress up and take her place so they can entertain the girls.

This production is an absolute hoot with a very talented and strong cast. The whole concept and vibrant costume design (Alex Berry) has a distinctly ‘Bridgerton on steroids’ feel to it. The versatile set lends itself well to the farcical elements of the play, and everyone is scrambling to meet the standards of Victorian marriage and propriety, which are easily mocked and subverted.

At the heart is queering up Charley’s Aunt which is a fantastic idea – the play is already full of gender-bending, identity confusion and performative social norms, which makes it ripe for a queer reimagining. The casting of a non-binary actor (a sensitive yet riotous performance by Max Gill) as Babbs instead of a heterosexual actor explores how their identity makes the disguise both more complicated and yet more liberating – revealing layers the original play only hinted at.

Rob Madge’s adaptation is an education.. transforming a 19th century farce into a tool for contemporary social education, revealing how gender is performed, how identity is constructed and how joy and comedy can challenge outdated norms – all while inviting modern audiences to confront and celebrate the complexities of queerness. Charley’s Aunt is about putting on a role to gain love or acceptance – a deeply relatable queer experience. Queering it doesn’t just modernise this play – it unlocks what was already there, just beneath the surface.

THE WANDERERS

Marylebone Theatre

★★★

“a tough piece to engage with”

THE WANDERERS

Marylebone Theatre

Reviewed on 22nd October 2025

by Violet Howson

Photography by Mark Senior

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE WANDERERS

THE WANDERERS

THE WANDERERS

CHARLEY’S AUNT

Watermill Theatre

★★★★★

“Rob Madge’s adaptation is an education”

CHARLEY’S AUNT

Watermill Theatre

Reviewed on 8th October 2025

by Sarah Milton

Photography by Mark Senior

Previously reviewed at this venue:

CHARLEY’S AUNT

CHARLEY’S AUNT

CHARLEY’S AUNT

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