The Choir of Man is not your usual West End offering. It’s bold and brash, full of raucous energy, with big-hearted performances and beer-fuelled camaraderie. The audience can kick off the evening up on stage sharing a pint with the cast, and taking photos during the show is absolutely encouraged. This is a night at the pub, recreated as a feel-good jukebox musical about finding your tribe and the importance of (male) friendship. And, despite the title, it’s not really about the pub choir at all; that’s just a handy device to bring a ragtag group of blokes together, from the Hardman to the Joker.
Since its debut at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe, The Choir of Man has gone on to worldwide success for creators Nic Doodson and Andrew Kay. This is every Fringe show’s dream come true. And at every show, from Sydney to South Korea and Chicago, it pretty much looks and feels the same. It was here at the Arts Theatre in 2021-22 for over 1000 performances and now it’s back filling the space with beer and bonhomie.
The stage is transformed into The Jungle and pints are waiting to be poured – it’s a nostalgic local pub, more likely one our dads knew rather than one you’d find anywhere today. And, yes, the only female to be seen is the one pulling the pints before the show begins. The shabby chic scenic design by Oli Townsend seeps off the stage and through the theatre – there’s no fourth wall here between audience and cast.
Each cast member embodies a familiar (and stereotypical) pub persona, such as the friendly Bore, the Barman and the Poet, played with real feeling here by Paul McArthur. The characters are broadly drawn, but are played with enough sincerity and wit to keep them from feeling like complete clichés. The actors use their own names to make it more authentic, but you wouldn’t necessarily know that if you didn’t have a program. And there are reflective moments peppered through the script, touching on themes of vulnerability, loneliness and mental health, to remind us that pubs can be places of bonding as much as watering holes. Again, it’s perhaps a rather sentimental view, but one that neatly segues into the production’s support of the suicide prevention charity, CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably).
Musically, The Choir of Man is great, a juke-box pick ’n’ mix of sing-along hits and karaoke favourites. There’s also some good dancing, especially from Jason Brock as the heartbroken Romantic and Handyman George Knapper, whose vigorous tap routine would make his dance teacher very proud. And they can all sing, both individually and together a cappella. A special cheer here to Barman Olle Jacobson for his surprisingly good singing.
The four-piece band, playing on a balcony above the stage, but sometimes joining in the fun, do a great job and really add to the pub-rock ambience. There’s a lot to love in the music here with rousing renditions of classics like Queen’s ‘Somebody to Love’, The Proclaimers’ hit ‘500 Miles’ and, of course, ‘Welcome to the Jungle’.
The Choir of Man plays for 90 minutes without an interval, and this format works well. It maintains the energy and excitement and doesn’t give the audience time to dwell on the fact that there is no real storyline. It’s a series of vignettes, conversations you’ve overheard at the bar. While that’s all very warm and cosy, there’s no real narrative arc or character development. There are moments of emotional depth, but then the song changes and it all moves on.
And be warned, there is quite a bit of audience participation – great fun for most people, but seriously scary for more timid theatregoers. Towards the end of the show, the cast stand front-of-stage and throw things at the audience – this reviewer scored a bag of Walkers’ crisps and a beer mat of Barman Olle.
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The real triumph of The Choir of Man lies in its exuberant atmosphere – it feels genuine, warm and unpretentious. If all pubs felt like this, they wouldn’t be closing their doors at such an alarming rate. The audience absolutely loved it and went out happily into the night. If you can only see one show in London, this would be a pretty good choice.
The Choir of Man
Creators: Nic Doodson and Andrew Kay
Director: Nic Doodson
Associate Director: Daniel Harnett
Monologues: Ben Norris
Musical supervision and orchestrations: Jack Blume
Musical director: Lee Freeman
Movement direction and choreography: Freddie Huddleston
Scenic design: Oli Townsend
Lighting design: Richard Dinnen
Costume design and co-scenic design: Verity Sadler
Sound design: Sten Severson
Cast: David Booth, Jason Brock, Tom Carter-Miles, Toby Francis, Robert Godfrey, Ifan Gwilym-Jones, Oliver Jacobson, George Knapper, Benji Lord, Alex Mallalieu, Paul McArthur, Dave Shute, Bradley Walwyn
Band: Jacob Evans, Jack Hartigan, Darius Thompson, Sam Tookey
The Choir of Man will be performed until 31 August 2025.
