The musical is ageing beautifully
10 / 10
Sondheim stated that musicals aren’t written but rewritten, and watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’s evolution from a tiny but profound gem in Southwark Playhouse’s smallest space to a fully-fledged West End show has been an extraordinary pleasure. I reckon the great Stephen would’ve approved of Jethro Compton and Darren Clark’s distillation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s tall tale about a man born old who ages backward to infancy, with its intelligent storytelling through song, piercing wit, and an electrifying emotional charge that seldom lapses into sentimentality. Already one of the best British musicals in decades, in this newest iteration, it looks like a world-beater.
