Review Round-Up: THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY at the Theatre Royal Haymarket

Adapted by Rachel Joyce from her beloved and best-selling novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry follows an ordinary man who receives a letter from a friend who’s dying in hospice, and decides to make the six hundred mile journey from Kingsbridge to Berwick-Upon-Tweed to say goodbye to her, on foot. It’s directed by Katy Rudd (Ballet Shoes, The Ocean at the End of the Lane), and stars Mark Addy, (The Full Monty, The Rig, Game of Thrones) as Harold and Jenna Russell, (Sunday in the Park with George, Hello, Dolly) as Maureen. Chart-topping indie musician Passenger provides the score.

What are critics saying about The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry?

London Box Office

"Has magic at its very core"

★★★★★

Reviewer: Stuart King

"It would be a fair observation that Harold Fry follows a similar narrative format to that of other recent twee and naive musicals, notably Benjamin Button and perhaps to some extent, even Paddington. The makers’ intention is to follow a simple formula – namely outline a situation, engage the audience by introducing likeable characters, throw in an element which will tug the heartstrings and allow to gently simmer. The recipe is nigh-on foolproof and I confess, I am as susceptible to its charms as the next man. Stony-hearted curmudgeons may manage to remain unmoved by an average Joe’s need to do something meaningful in his ordinary and dull life, but the overwhelming majority of audience members will be captivated and enthralled by this show, which has magic at its very core."

Read the review online.

The Telegraph

“Mark Addy gives a superb lead performance in this heart-warming musical adaptation”

★★★★

Reviewer: Dominic Cavendish

"You can easily argue that it is hardly subtle and wants us to weep and smile on cue; but, to my mind, its sadness rings true, while its crowd-pleasing positivity is hedged with knowing make-believe. Rather like the redemptive, miraculous element of The Winter’s Tale, we recognise that the neat, borderline pat, transformation Harold Fry undergoes on his implausible journey from Devon to Berwick-upon-Tweed isn’t so easily achieved."

Read the review here.

WhatsOnStage

“Manages to bring on the tears without ever truly feeling like manipulation”

★★★★

Reviewer: Alex Wood

"The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is a rare beast: a musical that asks you to feel deeply without ever making you feel foolish for doing so. It has lost none of its power from its initial spell within the more intimate confines of the Minerva Theatre. By the time the final number starts, you aren’t just crying because the show told you to; you’re crying because you’ve seen so many facets of a couple, burdened by decades of mourning, finally able to let it go."

Read the review here.

The Independent

“Folkie feelgood musical transcends its own tweeness”

★★★★

Reviewer: Alice Saville

"Passenger’s songs are a perfect match for this story: they’ve got that distinctly rousing, footstomping, almost spiritual energy of the 2010s British folk revival’s biggest hits. And if the lyrics sometimes have an overly earnest quality, the delightfully nuts way that they’re staged ensures that each song has a distinct texture of its own. Rudd’s direction, Samuel Wyer’s design, and Tom Jackson Greaves’s choreography don’t waste a minute, packing every number with eccentric flourishes. The chorus become pole-walking exercise nuts waddling through the countryside like Indian runner ducks, or car wash rollers decked in plastic fringing, or sheep diffidently baa-ing in shaggy fur gilets. It’s twee – but no more than you’d expect from this show’s unashamedly feelgood premise."

Read the review here.

Madeleine Worrall and Mark Addy in THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY. Photo by Tristram Kenton.

The Times

“Cosy with a dash of salt”

★★★

Reviewer: Clive Davis

"The truth, though, is that while the folk-inflected songs by Mike Rosenberg (known as Passenger) are amiable enough — Chris Poon’s compact band cut a dash and the lyrics inject some surprisingly salty humour at times — Joyce’s script is oddly underpowered. It’s hard to take an interest in whether her unassuming Devon hero makes it to his destination in Berwick-upon-Tweed, where an old acquaintance, Queenie Hennessey, lies dying of cancer in a hospice. Katy Rudd’s production at the Haymarket in the West End trudges on and on, tugging at our heartstrings along the way."

Read the review here.

The Evening Standard

“This musical at Theatre Royal Haymarket has two loveable leads but it all feels a little thin”

★★★

Reviewer: Nick Curtis

"Director Katy Rudd conjures episodes from our hero’s journey along the length of England with simple props, a beautiful backdrop of looming skies and the collusion of an agile ensemble and a puppet dog. The folk-inflected score by Passenger is witty and tuneful. Yet for all its obvious charms and consummate professionalism it remains curiously uninvolving and slight. Call it a meh-sical."

Read the review here.

The Upcoming

"Director Katy Rudd’s musical packs in the emotional punches, but is ultimately mawkish and oversentimental"

★★★

Reviewer: Maggie O'Shea

"But it must be said that The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry leans very heavily on sentiment and schmaltz – to a degree that some audiences may find hard to stomach. Every tragedy under the kitchen sink appears in this show – from cancer and grief to addiction and mental ill-health – and the nuance of such heavy topics is often lost in favour of oversimplified aphorisms. Neat but nearly meaningless lines like “Getting lost is the key to being found” and “Sometimes you have to walk to find your feet” mean the actual moral core of the story is left unclear."

Read the review here.

If you're on the lookout for more theatre shows to watch in February, check out our top picks of the best family-friendly shows to watch this half-term.