★★★★★

“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.

STOREHOUSE

Deptford Storehouse

★★★½

“a multifaceted and engaging experience”

In a Deptford warehouse that was once the paper store for London’s newspaper industry, Storehouse (created by Liana Patarkatsishvili) is an immersive theatre production that questions the role of the internet and the twenty-four-hour news cycle in shaping our reality and the changing relationship between facts, news, and opinion.

The journey begins outside with a glass of sparkling wine and a paper guide that explains the premise: in 1983, at the birth of the internet, a group of visionaries opened the Storehouse, intending to convert all human data into binary code and which could then be catalogued, with the intention of collating it all on the First of January 2025. This moment, termed the Great Aggregation, would lead to the discovery of a universal, liberatory truth. We enter after the failure of this project.

Sorted into rooms to begin the experience, we are tasked with helping the employees of Storehouse – who have not left since 1983 – resolve the issue and proceed with the Great Aggregation. Passing through the doors into the cavernous warehouse we enter a low, cool space punctuated with columns, and from there into a waiting room. From this point onwards the performance incorporates everything from oaths and discussions to fortune cookies and votes, creating a multifaceted and engaging experience.

The actors we encounter along the way are all excellent. Fully embracing the retro 1980s environment, they walk us through the Storehouse’s collection, assessment and shelving processes while sharing their backstories and professional grievances – and dancing to Karma Chameleon whenever it plays over the Tannoy. Special mention goes to the Zachary Pang who guided our group through the maze of the Storehouse with aplomb. They are supported by a stellar cast of voice actors, that appear in video or audio: Toby Jones, Meera Syal, Kathryn Hunter and Billy Howle.

The sprawling staging (production designer Alice Helps), littered with 80s technology, and overgrown with a mossy, fungal-like substance, transports the audience to a strange – but strangely familiar – world, even down to the level of smells which permeate the rooms, bringing us further into the experience. The clothes (Julie Belinda Landau) are also fantastic, all silk shirts, braces and big shoulder pads, conjuring a moment of time frozen from the recent past.

Without wanting to give too much away, as I think going in cold enhances the experience, the structure of the show reflects its content, with participants invited to interact with one another, before, during and after the performance. There are multiple moments for a complementary drink, and I can say that the non-alcoholic cocktails are amazing. Conversation between strangers is encouraged: ‘a friend may be waiting behind a stranger’s face’, as we try together to understand our contemporary reality.

While I felt that the message was not groundbreaking, Storehouse was a very enjoyable and different experience and would be a gripping and provocative way to spend an evening with friends, or indeed to meet new people, re-focusing us on the importance of real-life, interpersonal connections, however fleeting. Ending on the deck of a free bar, looking across the Thames to Canary Wharf, I couldn’t help but think of the relationships between the centres of global economic power and the information ecosystems that help uphold them, Storehouse’s setting offering a final opportunity to consider its message.

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

STOREHOUSE

Deptford Storehouse

★★★½

“a multifaceted and engaging experience”

STOREHOUSE

Deptford Storehouse

Reviewed on 11th June 2025

by Rob Tomlinson

Photography by Helen Murray

Recently reviewed by Rob:

STOREHOUSE

STOREHOUSE

STOREHOUSE

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