Picture: Perro Loco Productions
Bonnie & Clyde continues at the Old Joint Stock, Birmingham until 2 November 2025.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Cult musical Bonnie & Clyde didn’t do massively well Stateside despite fan favourites Jeremy Jordan and Laura Osnes being on top form, but it was embraced by London audiences at its Drury Lane concert in January 2022, which saw Jordan reprising his Broadway performance as Clyde and newcomer Frances Mayli McCann as Bonnie. The success of the concert led to a run at London’s Arts Theatre in 2022, again featuring McCann as Bonnie with Jordan Luke Gage as Clyde, which also went on to enjoy a subsequent transfer to the Garrick Theatre. A 2024 UK tour was sadly cut short, but for anyone who missed out or who wants to join these criminals on their wild ride, you’re in luck, as a new non-replica production has opened at Birmingham’s Old Joint Stock Theatre.
Legendary outlaws Bonnie Parker (India Lily Cooper) and Clyde Barrow (Samuel Murray) meet at the side of the road following Clyde’s escape from prison for robbery and theft, and despite Bonnie’s better judgment, she can’t deny her attraction to the bad boy. The two share their dreams (hers of fame as a singer, his of a carefree life living on money he didn’t earn), and make plans for a life together.
Clyde’s brother Buck (Killian Thomas Lefevre), who escaped with him, is pressured to go back to jail by his wife Blanche (Faye Campbell), something which Clyde refuses to do, and soon the foursome are caught in a game of right and wrong as the seriousness of Clyde’s crimes start to grow, loyalties are tested, and the days begin to count down to the ill-fated lovers’ final dramatic end.
Frank Wildhorn’s musicals haven’t seen a great deal of success on UK stages, despite the fact that the composer has faced criticism for his shows lacking individuality and identity, with some saying any song could be lifted from any of his shows into another with no one really being any the wiser.
Bonnie & Clyde strongly defies this criticism, with its mix of rockabilly, blues, country and gospel feeling cohesive, unique and memorable. Don Black’s lyrics blend in brilliantly, observing the want for living a better life to its fullest, and Ivan Menchell’s book is a witty and engaging journey that puts its flawed characters front and centre.
Fans of Bonnie & Clyde who’ve followed the show since the Drury Lane concert will be thrilled to see producers still willing to take a chance on it and mounting new productions, and the Old Joint Stock really has done a phenomenal job here.
Beautifully directed by Emily Susanne Lloyd, the intimate space and traverse staging makes the piece feel far more personal and raw, its grit and Depression-era angst coming through far stronger than before, and the production has an intensity that previous adaptations never quite hit.
Stark lighting and minimal-but-effective sets mean you have no choice but to become immersed in the story and its performances, and the pay-off is a thrilling and exhilarating ride through a doomed romance played against the backdrop of a struggling America.
The book is still guilty of overly glamorising its leads (these are criminals at the end of the day), but the production wisely includes an written epilogue projected onto the walls, detailing the full names of those who lost their lives at the duo’s hands, giving the production even more power.
The principal cast members bring immense energy to their performances, as does the ensemble, but this production really flies on the strength of its two leads.
Both relative newcomers, Cooper and Murray deliver knockout performances that deserve to catapult them to theatreland stardom. With a romantic tension you could cut with a knife, these two flow together as one and are fully believable as the young lovers.
Cooper nails the sass and quick wit of Bonnie, along with delivering the big notes of her solos. And Murray brings a steely Clyde who wrings every drop of emotion from his character and sings like it’s his last day on earth, laying his soul out on the stage.
There really isn’t a weak link in this cast and everyone does a fine job, but Cooper and Murray make booking tickets a compulsory requirement before the show completes its brief run.
While there will be naysayers criticising “yet another American import” taking its piece of the UK theatre scene, when they’re as good as this one, it should be allowed to get behind the wheel of that stolen car and drive as fast as it can.
Proving you can’t keep these outlaws down, Bonnie & Clyde re-establishes itself as a ‘Most Wanted’ hit, and the Old Joint Stock production does it proud.
With a fantastic original score, some killer lead performances, and a production of searing intensity played out literally inches in front of you, something as entertaining as this really should be against the law.
Rob Bartley
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