Backstairs Billy, Duke of York's Theatre review - starry and gently subversive, too
8 / 10
The performances could not be better. I last saw Evans on this same stage in Rent Remixed, but nothing in my experience of him so far suggested the layers of feeling that he brings to this sleekly coiffed purveyor of bravado whose ego gets rather dramatically punctured. Time away from theatre may have made Evans a film name, but seems also to have amplified his connection to the stage. Wilton returns often to the theatre and deserves credit for a portrait that is light on its feet, not least in the various scenes in which the Queen Mother and Billy come together to dance. (Note a fascinating programme interview between the costume designers about capturing the necessary sartorial look.) Entirely aware of 'people like you' (that's to say, gay), the Queen Mother is all tolerance, but only up to a point. And those who might dismiss Backstairs Billy as so much heightened gossip would do well to heed its warning about societal divides that on this evidence can never be breached.
