★★★★★

“bursts with joy while delivering serious social commentary”

After its 2025 sell out triumph, ‘The Harder They Come’ roars back onto the stage. Based on Perry Henzell and Trevor Rhone’s cult classic film – credited with bringing reggae to the world – this musical revival bursts with life, rhythm and resistance.

Ivan, a poor singer from the country, hits Kingston ready for the big time. But his stubborn optimism is no match for rampant corruption, which soon sees him topping the charts and the most wanted list. Can he win his fight against injustice, and who’ll get caught in the crossfire?

Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks’ fizzes with life, rich with Jamaican Patois and the cadences of 1970s Kingston. It slices through the capitalist fantasy, charting Ivan’s shift from dreamer to rebel with razor sharp humour. Elsa’s expanded role shines, giving her much more agency as she mirrors Ivan’s growing distrust of authority – though some supporting characters feel a little under drawn. Ultimately Ivan’s tragic arc exposes a broken system, giving the story a bite that speaks to ongoing Black experiences today.

Musical icon Jimmy Cliff’s classics and Park’s new numbers soak the show in Jamaican soul, with Ashton Moore and Benjamin Kwasi Burrell’s supervision, orchestration and arrangements weaving reggae hits seamlessly into the story. The score lifts the room, with sharp musical tension at key moments. The titular song smartly signals Ivan’s rise and fall. The absolutely knockout ‘Many Rivers To Cross’ earns a mid show ovation. Act 2 feels lighter on songs, but Luke Bacchus and the onstage band keep the musical heartbeat strong throughout.

Olivier award winning Matthew Xia’s direction, with associate Emily Aboud, crackles with pace and confidence, charting Ivan’s corruption with believable clarity before accelerating into the climax. The humour lands sharply, with bold physical theatre and an outrageous fantasy sequence. That said, Xia still nails the serious beats when needed, delivering an audience winning balance.

Choreography by Shelley Maxwell, with Associate Neisha-yen Jones, brings sassy sharpness to every beat. The tonal range is impressive – from playful swagger, to bold fantasy, to a defiant showdown with authority. A beautiful and vibrant celebration of Jamaican and Afro diasporic movement.

Simon Kenny’s set design delivers slick transitions and a surprising range of locations, with Ivan’s rise and fall neatly echoed by a central platform. Jessica Cabassa’s costumes cleverly chart Ivan’s notoriety and mark class divides. Ciarán Cunningham’s lighting blends realism with bold pops of colour. Tony Gayle’s live sound brings a rich bassy resonance, though occasionally overpowers the lyrics, and Nicola T. Chang’s soundscape, with David Beckham’s support, vividly place us in each setting. Gino Ricardo Green’s video smartly nods to the cult film, and Dominique Hamilton’s wigs and makeup are beautifully realised.

Natey Jones returns as Ivan, firing up the stage with stunning vocals and a gripping descent that keeps our empathy intact. Madeline Charlemagne returns as Elsa – a role shared with Chanice Alexander-Burnett – bringing emotional grounding and soaring vocals to her own sharp awakening. Rachel John takes on Daisy, stealing the show with gut wrenching vocals and commanding the stage in this relatively small role. Daniel Bailey’s José shifts smoothly from playful swagger to steely edge. Ashley Samuels nails the Preacher’s comic bite and simmering menace, while Thomas Vernal’s Hilton blends velvet vocals with real danger. The whole cast earns their mid show standing ovation for a blistering ‘Many Rivers To Cross’ – everyone absolutely lets rip and it’s utterly glorious.

‘The Harder They Come’ bursts with joy while delivering serious social commentary. If you missed it first time around, run and grab tickets while you can!

THE BIG LIFE at the Theatre Royal Stratford East

★★★★★

“The whole show is a wondrous vision”

When front of house inform you that the show is approximately three hours long, the reaction is to smile politely while inwardly groaning and hoping there’s an espresso machine behind the bar at the interval. In the case of “The Big Life” however, after what is, in all actuality, a little over three hours we are still wanting more. It has been twenty years since this absolute gem of a musical premiered at Theatre Royal Stratford East (before transferring to the West End), and its revival has come none too soon.

Set in the mid-fifties, the show opens on board the Windrush; sailing from the Caribbean carrying its voyagers heading for a new life. The characters are full of hope, with great expectations and personal aspirations. We all know the reality. But although this show touches on it, it is no ‘blaxploitation’ polemic. It is instead a true celebration of a culture to which we owe a huge debt.

Subtitled ‘the Ska Musical’, Paul Joseph’s music keeps the blood pumping and the feet tapping throughout. And during the more tender, balladic moments, our heartstrings almost snap. It is Bob Marley meets Louis Jordan. A crossbreed of ‘One Love’ and ‘Five Guys Named Moe’, with more than a splash of Leiber and Stoller thrown in. So where can you go wrong? Adding Shakespeare to the mix sounds like a risk too far, but the ingenious take on the bard’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost” is a masterstroke of theatrical reimagining. Paul Sirett and Tameka Empson’s book (Sirett is also the lyricist) even manages to improve on it while staying remarkably faithful.

On board the ship are four young men who make a pact to abstain from women and drink for three years in order to work hard and make something of their lives. The women in their lives have other ideas. The admiral of the ship follows them all onto dry land, igniting fire into the cold, grey, unwelcoming landscape, and moreover igniting mischief into the lives of the star-crossed individuals.

You don’t need to be familiar with Shakespeare’s storyline to follow the action. The biggest threat of losing the plot is through the sheer multitude of laugh-out-loud moments. The cast collectively throw the term ‘triple threat’ to the wind, multiplying their talents left, right and centre. Co-writer Empson presides over the evening as Mrs Aphrodite, commenting on the piece and filling in details from her majestic place in a box in the royal circle. In the guise of a forthright, Jamaican, first-generation immigrant, she flamboyantly and hilariously dispenses gossip and shameless commentary through the scene changes. Her perfectly timed interjections gently morph into more serious subject matter, poignantly and subtlety drawing attention to the darker side – particularly the recent Windrush scandals. The disturbing irony, and the fate of these migrants is not ignored and is treated by the writers with a respect and an authority that lends untold depth to the tremendous applause that greets the curtain call.

Onstage, meanwhile, the party continues. The seven-piece band continue to belt out the numbers with high energy while the ensemble cast is spreading joy like there’s no tomorrow. So much zest is bouncing off the stage that we forget that these actors are probably among the hardest working performers in London currently. I’d love to namecheck everyone, but each one is a star. I’d love to give a step-by-step account of the story and index the song list for you, but each number is a showstopper. The whole show is a wondrous vision. The score is a dream. Twenty years ago, it transferred to the West End. The standing ovation it received this time around will surely guide it there again. In double-time, of course – it is a ‘Ska musical’ after all.

Tag Archives: Rachel John

THE HARDER THEY COME

★★★★★

Stratford East

THE HARDER THEY COME

Stratford East

★★★★★

“bursts with joy while delivering serious social commentary”

THE HARDER THEY COME

Stratford East

Reviewed on 21st May 2026

by Hannah Bothelton

Photography by Pamela Raith

THE HARDER THEY COME

THE HARDER THEY COME

THE HARDER THEY COME

🎭 A TOP SHOW IN FEBRUARY 2024 🎭

THE BIG LIFE

★★★★★

Theatre Royal Stratford East

THE BIG LIFE at the Theatre Royal Stratford East

★★★★★

“The whole show is a wondrous vision”