The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Review
Published on 20 March 2025
I spent way too long trying to figure out how to write this review backwards without confusing you (or me), but alas, it was a logistical nightmare. So let’s keep it simple: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is pure theatrical magic.
Entering the Ambassador’s Theatre auditorium, the audience is immersed in a seagulls-cawing-bustling-harbour soundscape. The shell-encrusted stage is adorned with ship’s planks, green fishing nets, buoys, life rings, and coils of old boat rope and rigging—just add a kiosk with stripy sticks of rock, and you’re fully transported to the Cornish seaside.
Cornish-born writer and director Jethro Compton relocates F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story from Baltimore (the film being set in New Orleans) to the British coast. A brilliant artistic decision; never before have I seen a musical and then deemed its movie counterpart so completely irrelevant. 1. Because this beer-swilling, seafaring adventure is much more my speed, and 2. Because, Brad Pitt, who? (He lost me after the Jen/Ange debacle circa ‘05. Boy, bye!)
The musical begins in a small Cornish fishing village towards the end of World War I. One peculiar night, the laws of time and tide shift, the sea begins to ebb in reverse, and miraculously, Benjamin Button (John Dagleish) is born as an elderly man, sporting a Toad of Toad Hall-style green suit and a walking stick. ‘Do you mind if I smoke?’ he asks his horrified father.
As Benjamin starts ageing in reverse, he is referred to as an aberration, a problem, a shameful secret and squirrelled away in a tiny attic bedroom out of sight. He’s much like fellow outsiders Rapunzel or Quasimodo, trapped in a tower. The story’s fairytale elements are brought to life with Cornish folklore and Darren Clark’s spine-tingling sea shanties, played by an ensemble of actor-musicians who sway like the tide, croon haunting melodies, and play 30 instruments!
Don’t forget, this is a love story, but it’s as much about falling in love with your own fate as it is with somebody else. John Dagleish embodies this perfectly during the song “A Little Life” as he ambles down to the Pickled Crab pub to have his first pint at 59. Won’t lie, it’s exceptionally rare to be sat in a theatre with tears streaming down my face while simultaneously tapping my toes along to a song. It seems paradoxical and defies expectations, much like Benjamin himself.
Beguiling Button. You will be completely enchanted as he takes the audience on a war-torn voyage over the course of the next half century, spending most of the time wistfully longing for love interest Elowen Keene (Clare Foster) and far too little time actually being together before more tragedy strikes.
Prepare to become hooked on the windswept romance of the intimately rustic music, with highlights including the pulse-quickening “When E’re She Looked At Me”, “The Kraken’s Lullaby”, the spellbinding “Matter of Time” and “Shippin’ Out Tomorrow”. With such a moreish score, it’s no wonder that this is the most nominated new British musical at this year’s Olivier Awards.
A parable about belonging, embracing the cards you’re dealt, and cherishing the little things before time runs out, this show is utterly life-affirming. You’ll leave the theatre feeling ready to live every day as if it’s your last. (Or your first, as the case may be for Mr Button.)
Will the show stand the test of time in the West End? Well, it’s already been extended multiple times due to huge demand, and I can’t wait to see what happens at the Olivier Awards in a few weeks.
Tell me a thought. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is the best musical I have seen this year. (That’s not a thought; that’s a fact.) Book your tickets now – time and tide wait for no man!
