Review: Till The Stars Come Down (Theatre Royal Haymarket)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When it comes to the most talked about plays of 2024, Till The Stars Come Down was up there as one critics and audience members kept coming back to as one of the breakout hits of the year. It seemed like only a matter of time before we would see it again, and it is now enjoying a West End transfer at Theatre Royal Haymarket. When I reviewed the play last year, I absolutely adored it, but for some reason capped my review at four stars - I’m not being dramatic when I say that review has haunted me ever since, leaving me feeling like it deserved that elusive fifth star from me. It’s not often I feel like I didn’t give something the correct star rating, in fact, I can only think of one other time it’s happened in the last five years. With this in mind, I jumped at the chance to check out the West End transfer in the hopes that this time around I could justify giving it a full house. As you can see, it more than justified it.

Till The Stars Come Down is set at the wedding between Sylvia and Marek. Just your everyday run of the mill wedding with all the family in tow - nothing dramatic about that, although I’m sure some of us have our own horror stories about drama we have seen at weddings in the past. As Sylvia’s family struggles with her choice of husband, sibling rivalries, family dramas, and all kinds of varying dynamics play out in a wedding day like no other, and one that might not be the happiest day of anyone’s lives, but certainly one they’ll never forget.

The richness in Beth Steel’s writing is part of what makes Till The Stars Come Down such an overwhelming success. Firstly, it is ridiculously and frequently funny with no shortage of incredibly witty and creative one-liners, and well fleshed-out characters with their own funny traits (see Aunty Carol - more on her later). As a straightforward comedy play, this would still be an excellent piece of theatre. However, what takes it to a whole new stratospheric level is in the more serious themes that lurk underneath all of the comedy.

Knowing where the play goes, I picked up on this a lot more on a repeat viewing and was able to appreciate the subtlety and slow build up of the microaggressions that work their way into prominence, before exploding into… well, I won’t spoil exactly what. The success in the execution in these moments is how believable and real it feels. Some of us will have experienced inappropriate comments from family members and beliefs we don’t share. As the world progresses, the disparity between these beliefs and the overall tolerance and acceptance of others seems to be growing, and Till The Stars Come Down demonstrates this perfectly. The first utterance of these microaggressions may get a laugh from part of the audience, but the laughter subsides as they become harsher.

The comedy is reeled in somewhat in the play’s more serious second Act as allegations and repercussions from the dramatic wedding play out to even more dramatic effect. This is foreshadowed with the perhaps unexpected climax to Act One, preparing for this tonal shift in the second Act. The genius in Beth Steel’s writing is how, despite two drastically different tones in the play, it still feels cohesive and believable, despite going from one extreme to another. Till The Stars Come Down will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions, from fits of laughter to anguish, tears, and a real gut punch as the premonition of an awful thing happening to ruin Sylvia’s wedding day proves more than simply a dream.

Every bit as strong as the writing is Bijan Sheibani’s direction. When the play was first staged at National Theatre’s Dorfman Theatre last year, it was in the round with the audience surrounding the stage. When the play was announced to transfer to the proscenium Theatre Royal Haymarket, I wondered how that would work. The addition of on-stage seating has solved that problem, allowing the intimate nature of the piece to shine through, even through the far larger and rather looming Theatre Royal Haymarket stage. The show has the feeling that the audience is the guests at the wedding, and Shelbani’s direction utilises that with cast members interacting with various audience members, and even encouraging a singalong midway through. If that sounds cheesy, tacky, and basically your idea of Hell, me too - but it works in the context of the piece and, rather than detract from anything, only adds to the show.

Shelbani’s choices throughout heighten the emotion and intensity of certain moments of the play while maximising the humour in others, ensuring a show that is always as visually thrilling as the writing is stimulating. Having characters circle the stage in one pivotal scene towards the climax almost resembles a boxing ring, with the family conversation turning into a full-blown fight (not the only fight you’ll witness on this stage, with a special mention to fight director Kev McCurdy). With every intricate choice during this powerful scene, you could hear a pin drop in the enraptured audience. Though having the audience as wedding guests makes the play intimate, scenes like this create a sense of discomfort (in the best possible way) as we have grown to care about these characters, leaving the repercussions of the wedding all the more impactful and almost personal to us as audience members.

Samal Blak’s set cleverly transitions to the action from the family home to the wedding reception and party through some smart and surprising effects I won’t spoil. With a great use of a revolve, the scene where all ten cast members sit around the top table for a prolonged and memorable sequence sees the most beautiful blend of design and direction, inspired in its execution. Paule Constable’s lighting design extends below the stage to really increase the differing tones, with some gorgeous effects used throughout, while Gareth Fry’s sound design keeps the whole thing sounding crystal clear, amplifying when needed and letting the music deliberately take over at other times.

The cast features a mix of some returning from last year’s production and some new additions. The one consistency amongst them is their quality, all sensational collectively and individually, resulting in one of the best ensemble casts you will find in the West End this year. Sinead Matthews effortlessly ties it all together as bride, Sylvia, with a warmth almost naivety to her initially that paves the way for a far richer characterisation, so that she is a completely different woman by the time the play ends. Though it takes a while to meet him and his stage time is comparatively limited, Julian Kostov gives a charming and charismatic turn as Sylvia’s groom, Marek, in a performance that is impossible not to fall in love with.

Aisling Loftus delivers a commanding stage presence as Maggie, with Ruby Thompson intriguing and utterly watchable as Leanne - both women come into their own when they prove to be the catalysts for much of the action. Lucy Black is wonderfully brash as Hazel, a strong no-nonsense character who has moments early on where she is admired, before her own undesirable quality rears its ugly head, in a brilliantly balanced portrayal. The standout character here is Aunty Carol - the most fabulously written character, utterly exaggerated to a ridiculous extent, but still completely recognisable as an eccentric type we may have in our own families - that is a prime example of the genius in Beth Steel’s writing, and that genius is matched by Dorothy Atkinson’s exceptional and scene-stealing performance. As the character inserts herself where she has no business being, Atkinson gives a comic masterclass in an incredible feat of acting that demands attention, even when she is not the centre of attention (as much as Aunty Carol would like to be). Though the cast are all remarkable in their own respect, this is the one performance I will be remembering for a long while yet.

It was 18 months ago that I first saw Till The Stars Come Down at the Dorfman Theatre, and the show has played on my mind ever since. Though it may well have been a five-star show back then, and resulted in the strongest four stars I’ve ever given, it is miraculously even better this time around and left me in no doubt to award it anything other than the full five stars. The mix of Beth Steel’s phenomenal writing with this fantastic cast is a marriage made in heaven, resulting in true wedded bliss. Though Sylvia and Marek’s wedding may not have been the best day of their lives, my trip to see the show this time around was one of the best theatre trips of mine with a show that I will love with all of my heart til death do us part. The stars really are raining down on this remarkable show, and rightly so.

Till The Stars Come Down plays at Theatre Royal Haymarket until 27th September. Tickets from https://allthatdazzles.londontheatredirect.com/play/till-the-stars-come-down-tickets

Photos by Manuel Harlan