Till the Stars Come Down, Theatre Royal Haymarket Review
SinéadMatthews and cast of Till the Stars Come Down. Photo: Manuel Harlan
Written by Liam A for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Beth Steel's Till the Stars Come Down at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, after an unexpected sell-out barnstorming run at the National's Dorfman Theatre, is that rare play that grabs you by the heart and the brain simultaneously. This isn't just theatre - it's a vibrant, messy, utterly compelling portrait of working-class Britain that manages to be laugh-out-loud funny one moment and gut-wrenchingly sad the next.
The set up is deceptively simple: a wedding reception in a Nottinghamshire mining town. But as the vodka flows and the disco plays, Steel peels back the layers to reveal a family - and by extension, a country - cracking under the weight of its own history. The genius of this play is how it makes the personal political without ever feeling like a lecture. Brexit isn't just a talking point here - it's the thing that makes sisters stop speaking, that turns uncles into enemies, that exposes the raw nerve endings of a community left behind.
Sinéad Matthews is extraordinary as Sylvia, the bride whose big day becomes anything but. Her hopeful smile hardens into something more complicated. Opposite her, Lucy Black's Hazel is a firecracker of a performance - all sharp edges and wounded pride. Their scenes together crackle with decades of shared history and unspoken grievances. The supporting cast is uniformly excellent. Dorothy Atkinson nearly steals the show as Aunty Carol, delivering punchlines with perfect timing while hinting at oceans of loneliness beneath.
Director Bijan Sheibani keeps everything moving at just the right pace - the first half's wedding chaos giving way to the second half's emotional fallout. The production makes clever use of the Haymarket's space, at times making you feel like you're right there at the reception table, other times pulling back to let the bigger picture sink in.
What makes Till the Stars Come Down so special is how completely it immerses you in its world. The dialogue rings so true you'll swear you've overheard these conversations at family gatherings. The arguments feel lived-in, the relationships complex and real. Steel has that rare ability to find both the humour and the humanity in even the most flawed characters - no one here is purely villain or victim.
By the time the lights come up, you'll feel like you've lived a lifetime with these people. The play's final moments - a culmination of family secrets and hidden truths exploding to the forefront - will stay with you long after you've left the theatre. It's that rare work that entertains even as it makes you think, it feels specific to its moment but speaks to universal truths.
In a theatrical landscape that often either panders or preaches, Till the Stars Come Down does neither. It simply shows us who we are, with all our contradictions and complexities. This is surely the wedding party that cracks open modern Britain The result is thrilling, heartbreaking, and unmissable.
A wedding you'll be glad you crashed.
Till the Stars Come Down is playing at the Theatre Royal Haymarket until Saturday 27th September. Book now for one of the most talked-about plays of the season - just don't expect to leave unchanged.
★★★★★
