Reviews: Critics Weigh in On World Premiere of Ashley Robinson's Brokeback Mountain Adaptation | Playbill

The Verdict Reviews: Critics Weigh in On World Premiere of Ashley Robinson's Brokeback Mountain Adaptation

Playing the West End's @sohoplace, Tony and BAFTA nominee Mike Faist and Oscar nominee Lucas Hedges star as Jack and Ennis.

Mike Faist and Lucas Hedges in Brokeback Mountain Manuel Harlan

The world premiere of Brokeback Mountain—Ashley Robinson's new play with music based on Annie Proulx’s short story—began previews at London's @sohoplace May 10 prior to an official opening May 18. Featuring songs by Dan Gillespie Sells and direction by Jonathan Butterell, the limited engagement will continue through August 12.

Tony and BAFTA nominee Mike Faist (Dear Evan Hansen, West Side Story film) and Oscar nominee Lucas Hedges (Manchester By The Sea, Boy Erased) star as Jack and Ennis respectively, two cowboys who take jobs on the isolated Brokeback Mountain in 1963 Wyoming. All their certainties of life change forever as they flounder in unexpected emotional waters of increasing depth, and an intense tale of unresistible and hidden love—and its tragic consequences—unfolds over 20 years.

Read the reviews here.

Broadway World (Abbie Grundy)

City A.M. (Adam Bloodworth)

Daily Mail (Luke Jones)

Evening Standard (Nick Curtis)

The Guardian (Arifa Akbar)

Independent (Jessie Thompson)

iNews (Fiona Mountford)

London Box Office (Stuart King)

London Theatre (Marianka Swain)

London Theatre 1 (Terry Eastham)

The Stage (Sam Marlowe)*

The Telegraph (Dominic Cavendish)

Theatre Weekly (Greg Stewart)

Time Out (Andrzej Lukowski)

The Times (Clive Davis)*

West End Best Friend (Duncan Burt)

What's On Stage (Sarah Crompton)

Why Now (James Harvey)

*This review may require creating a free account or a paid subscription.

Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.

Also starring in the cast are Emily Fairn (The Responder) as Alma, Paul Hickey (Waste, Our Class) as Older Ennis, and Martin Marquez (Othello, Husbands & Sons) as Joe/Bill/Jack’s Father. Understudies include Rob Alexander-Adams, Tom Mahy, and Sophie Reid.

The original songs are performed by Eddi Reader (Fairground Attraction), who plays the Balladeer. Reader is joined onstage by her country and western band, including musical director Sean Green on piano, Meelie Traill on upright bass, Greg Miller on chromatic harmonica, and BJ Cole on pedal steel guitar.

The production also has set and costume design by Tom Pye, lighting by David Finn, and sound by Christopher Shutt. The creative team also includes casting director Shaheen Baig, intimacy director Tommy Ross-Williams, fight director Kevin McCurdy, production manager Phil Wilding, costume supervisor Zeb Lalljee, wigs maker and supervisor Sam Cox, props supervisor Lily Mollgaard, and vocal and dialect coaches Mary Irwin and Ben Furey.

Go inside the production with the gallery below.

Take a Look at Production Photos of the West End's Brokeback Mountain

 
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