THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY

Theatre Royal Haymarket

★★★★★

“balances spectacle with subtlety, and resonates with emotional depth”

The chances we miss often haunt us hardest. ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’ is a tender, heartbreaking, profoundly human new musical offering new chances for those brave enough to take them.

Weighed down by years of regret, Harold Fry learns an old friend is dying. Though initially hesitant, Harold realises there may be time to put one thing right. So begins an unexpected journey, rekindling the joys of living on the way. But can he reach her in time – and what truths await if he does?

Rachel Joyce’s ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’, adapted with Peter Darling and Katy Rudd, with dramaturgy by Nick Sidi, is a profound exploration of pain, forgiveness and renewal. A strikingly honesty portrait of self made prisons, it creates and unravels Harold’s uneasy mythology with impressive insight. Yet for all its gravity, it glows with warmth and humour. The writing, rich in subtext, excels at showing rather than telling – though later exchanges feel less nuanced, such as Maureen’s sudden absolution from a stranger and Kate’s unlikely departure from the pilgrimage. However, Harold and Maureen’s final scene restores the play’s understated humanity, closing with an authentic and unforgettable resonance.

Katy Rudd’s award winning direction, with Jamie Manton and Nicky Allpress, evolves with Harold. Early Brechtian elements – deconstructed set, ever-present ensemble, freezeframes – evoke a fractured existence, while later scenes bring realism and new life. The Balladeer’s shapeshifting nature is seeded with care, haunting Harold before vanishing at key moments. Chris Fisher’s illusions are brilliantly unsettling, while Timo Tatzber’s puppeteering is irresistibly endearing. Overall, the production balances spectacle with subtlety, and resonates with emotional depth.

With music and lyrics by Passenger, and additional contributions from Jeremy Holland Smith and Phil Bateman, the score is delicious, weaving country, smooth jazz, and pop into a cohesive folk sound. The careful construction builds and eases tension beautifully, with surprise chords underscoring emotional breakthroughs. Beautiful harmonies abound, including with the dog! The orchestra brings the score vividly to life under the baton of musical director Chris Poon and deputy Caitlin Morgan.

Tom Jackson Greaves’ choreography, assisted by Nell Martin and Edwin Ray, cleverly contrasts stillness with full blooded ensemble movement, weaving a rich mix of styles that celebrate the many paths to joy and fulfilment.

Samuel Wyer’s design, with Joseph Bisat Marshall (associate set and costume), Paule Constable (lighting), and Ash J Woodward (video), is cohesive, polished, and rich in symbolism. Circles recur from the proscenium arch to the performance space to the barrels, evoking cycles of change and unity. The barrels themselves carry additional meaning, while the circular arch becomes the frame through which we view Harold’s life. The tonal palette reveals stark differences, with Harold’s muted greys giving way to vivid sunsets, while Maureen stays stuck. Blake’s influence in the intense watercolour skies is clear. The only slight drawback is the sound design by Ian Dickinson and Gareth Tucker for Autograph, with voices occasionally struggling against orchestral swells. Still, the overall design grounds and drives the narrative with striking beauty.

The cast is outstanding. Mark Addy nails Harold Fry’s mix of bumbling charm and sincerity with no nonsense wit and warm vocals. Jenna Russell gives a beautifully nuanced Maureen Fry, compressing decades of resentment into a faded figure with crystalline vocals. Noah Mullins makes a dazzling West End debut as the commandingly mercurial Balladeer, delivering stunning vocals. The whole ensemble shines with vivid characterisations, powerful singing, and Tatzber’s enchanting puppetry.

Catch ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’ while you can – this is a journey you won’t want to miss.

THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY

Theatre Royal Haymarket

Reviewed on 10th February 2026

by Hannah Bothelton

Photography by Tristram Kenton

THE UNLIKELY

★★★★

“Sometimes quirky, often heartbreaking, but invariably mesmerising”

‘Your future self is watching you right now through your memories’. The quotation, which has wormed its way into meme status on social media, can be traced back to biomedical scientist Aubrey de Grey, but any free thinker could probably come up with a similar truism. But it does make you think – and, as a concept, it forms the backbone of Anna Jordan’s two hander “Lost Atoms”. Jordan takes it a step further and has these future memories interrupting the present and correcting where necessary. The play sets out to show how a couple’s perspective of their relationship can alter over time thanks to the conflicting memories of each character. The effect is a slightly unnerving, quite brilliant and riveting watch.

The couple is Jess (Hannah Sinclair Robinson) and Robbie (Joe Layton). The microscopic lens through which we witness their story is echoed by Andrzej Goulding’s striking set comprising a towering wall of filing cabinets, which plays with our perception of space as much as the narrative plays with time. Many times, we feel as though we are looking down from above as the back wall becomes the floor. Director Scott Graham has Sinclair Robinson and Layton crawl across the banks of drawers that slide in and out, defying gravity with ease. This is true ‘Frantic Assembly’ at its finest.

Step away from the main concept and its stylised representation, and what you have is a fairly conventional love story, albeit one with unexpectedly sad twists. The two performances are outstanding. There is an instant connection between Sinclair Robinson and Layton, further welded by a smouldering chemistry. The dialogue is easy going and often humorous until, of course, things go wrong. The second act finds us in darker territory – audible gasps can sometimes be heard from the auditorium. It seems that no stone is left unturned, as we draw closer to the love story’s conclusion, unearthing original thoughts on the themes of grief, loss, pregnancy, marriage, fidelity, aging. Other characters are skilfully introduced and made real through the silent gaps of one-sided conversations. Jess and Robbie are the only ones speaking but we can clearly hear the whole conversation in our heads.

But some of the strongest moments are the wordless ones, when the couple’s natural intimacy progresses to deep sensuality during moments of abstract choreography. With Simisolar Majekodunmi’s stark and shadowy lighting and Julie Blake’s atmospheric music, the actors again pay no attention to gravity. A bed unfolds like a drawbridge at an impossibly steep angle while the actors move with the vertiginous ease of geckos. The cabinet drawers contain not just props and costumes, but metaphors that are pulled out at pivotal moments to enhance the narrative flow.

Eventually talk turns to hopes for the future, which in turn blur into the couple’s memories. It seems that their dreams are as untrustworthy and insubstantial as their memories. Our memories often betray us, we are being told. “Fairy tales are bullshit” Jess exclaims. Jordan has given us a haunting perspective of a relationship’s arc. The only real flaw is that it does stretch it out somewhat, making for quite a long play, and a couple of scenes are difficult to follow acoustically – never mind the atoms; occasionally the actors’ words are lost in the soft-spoken moments of truth. Yet it is beautifully poetic and insightful. Messy at times. Sometimes quirky, often heartbreaking, but invariably mesmerising. Memory might be unreliable, but “Lost Atoms” is unforgettable.

Tag Archives: Tristram Kenton

THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY

★★★★★

Theatre Royal Haymarket

THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY

Theatre Royal Haymarket

★★★★★

“balances spectacle with subtlety, and resonates with emotional depth”