Opening Night Review | What we thought

A bold new show

It's a bold move to adapt a relatively little known psychological drama film from the 1970s into a stage musical in 2024, but that's exactly the kind of uncompromising decision that Ivo van Hove has made a career out of.

The prolific director is no stranger to translating celebrated works from all kinds of arts to the stage. His recent adaptations include Hanya Yanagihara's harrowing novel A Little Life, starring James Norton, and Sidney Lumet's satirical film Network, for which Bryan Cranston won both an Olivier Award and a Tony Award. If anyone could pull off such a weird and wild idea, it would be Ivo van Hove, and I think for the most part he succeeds in doing so.

The plot follows Myrtle Gordon, a fragile star actress rehearsing for a play as she struggles with the character she's playing, her own love life, and the tragic death of a young fan outside the theatre, all while opening night ticks ever closer.

Gordon is played by Sheridan Smith, fresh from her starring role in Shirley Valentine, which earned her an Olivier Award nomination. She's a woman constantly on the verge of losing control, and Smith embodies this wonderfully, flitting between her chaotic highs and miserable lows in the blink of an eye.

Non-stop tension

It helps that her performance is not just seen in person, but filmed and projected almost constantly onto a large screen at the back of the stage. This unusual staging decision has the double benefit of honouring the heavy use of close-ups by the original film's director, John Cassavetes, as well as adding another layer of scrutiny to Smith's performance.

There's also a fantastic moment in which Gordon, drunk and late, is filmed staggering around the real-life streets outside the theatre as she tries to make her way inside for her performance. There's nowhere to hide, for Smith or for Gordon, and this non-stop sense of surveillance only adds to the tension and pressure that keeps building and building on stage.

Nothing quite like it

It's this pressure that makes it such an odd decision to turn Opening Night into a musical. Rufus Wainwright's songs are all pretty good, particularly the wonderful "Magic", which pops up a couple of times. But their sudden appearances tend to break the tension on stage a little.

There's also a bizarre fight scene, including strobe lighting, tight choreography and deafening music, that has a similar bubble-bursting effect. These more theatrical moments sit at a strange contrast to the drama of the story, and give the whole thing a much lighter, much sillier feel than the film.

That's not a bad thing, by any means, and it doesn't detract from the overall experience. Ivo van Hove has certainly left his mark on the source material, with some good music from Rufus Wainwright, an exciting use of screens and a camera crew, and a brilliant performance from Sheridan Smith.

So is Opening Night worth seeing? Absolutely! I don't know how long the show will last on the West End, but one thing's for sure. Whether you've been to the theatre once or a hundred times, you won't have seen anything quite like it. I've not seen a play divide audiences so much for a very long time, so see it while you can and decide for yourself.