Make every second count.
It was all just a matter of time. And finally, the wait is over. The foot-stomping and award-winning musical, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, arrives in London’s West End after capturing hearts and selling out at Southwark Playhouse.
With a breathtaking soundtrack brought to life by an extraordinary actor-musician ensemble, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic short story is relocated to a fishing village on the north coast of Cornwall by writing team Jethro Compton and Darren Clark.
Under the light of a full moon, something most curious occurs... Benjamin Button is born old.
Bound to the fate of growing younger each day, Benjamin wants nothing more than to live a little life. But will he ever find a place to belong? Only time and tide will tell...
An electrifying journey through the timeless tale of a love that defies all odds, join us with friends and loved ones at The Ambassadors Theatre for a unique chance to catch this enchantingly beautiful and truly unordinary new musical. You’ll love every second.
The script has been tweaked and the production recast since I saw and loved it at Southwark Playhouse last July: the sketched-in supporting characters feel more winsome and cartoonish, and the cast’s artfully dishevelled clothes and smeared faces make them look like extras from Oliver! but it remains a sweet love story that carries a powerful, almost mystical musing on the nature of existence. Plus you’ve got to love a show that rhymes “cup and saucer” with “divorce her”.
Many will know the plot from the 2008 film starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, but Compton freshens it up by transposing the story from North America to the UK. Set in an early-to-mid 1900s Cornish fishing village, it’s atmospheric, with fishing nets and buoys hanging above a wooden, dock-like stage. Darren Clark’s folksy score is studded with Clark and Compton’s sea shanty-style songs, and there’s a determinedly upbeat essence to the music that prevents the bittersweet story from ever dwelling in its darkness.
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