The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind – @sohoplace

Sifiso Mazibuko and Alistair Nwachukwu in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind at @sohoplace, London. Picture: Tyler Fayose

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind continues at @sohoplace, London until 18 July 2026.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Creativity and ingenuity are often born from hardship. Such was the case in Malawi in 2001 as a famine tore through the farmlands, taking the lives of many and threatening many others.

In one such community, a teenage boy, William Kamkwamba, decided he could build a wind turbine based on the ones he saw in a second-hand schoolbook. If such a windmill could power a water pump, it could irrigate the farm’s dry lands sufficiently to grow additional crops, saving his family and the village from the drought.

That he succeeded is never really in question – this is a true story, after all, and it would be a short one if he had failed. William’s memoir was adapted into a 2019 film written and directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor. Now it has become a Royal Shakespeare Company musical, arriving in the West End after a run earlier this year at Stratford-upon-Avon’s Swan Theatre.

Director Lynette Linton’s production fuses traditional rhythms and melodies with African song and dance traditions, alongside more contemporary musical theatre styles. That mirrors the family William heralds from, who respect the community’s centuries-old traditional ways while striving to be modern parents who send their children to school and to university.

Tim Sutton’s music, coupled with Richy Hughes’ book (the pair collaborating on lyrics), makes the flow between styles feel natural and welcoming. And so we move almost effortlessly between a dreamlike story of the personification of Wind (Choolwe Laina Muntanga) and the ever-present threat of the hyena (Shaka Kalokoh) – recurring reminders of the good and bad elements of the natural Malawian ecosystem – and the more modern tale of Alistair Nwachukwu’s 13-year-old William, his family and friends.

William’s pull towards science and invention is hampered by a school system that relies on his parents’ ability to pay the fees. And as the harvest fails and the prospect of affording their son’s education recedes, Madeline Appiah and Sifiso Mazibuko, as his parents Agnes and Trywell, provide a vivid portrait of a family held together by love even in the darkest of times.

Through their loves, William’s best friend, Idriss Kargbo’s Gilbert, careens like a whirlwind. This character of a carefree, smart-talking sidekick is hardly new to this sort of story. Still, Kargbo and Nwachukwu completely sell the boys’ respect for and devotion to one another.

Indeed, that also goes for the other supporting characters. One or two veer into caricature territory – most notably, Newtion Matthews as an over-the-top schoolteacher – but, generally, the sense of a village that lives, works and plays together is vividly and believably illustrated through dialogue, song and dance.

This sprawling story comes at the expense of running time. It feels as if Act I takes an age to reach its inciting moments, and while the village community are all a joy to be entertained by, there is a sense that we are at times waiting for the tale proper to kick in.

But there are nuggets within, most notably the ecological subplot. William’s family are portrayed as one of the few farmsteads to resist the money from big tobacco, which encourages the felling of the indigenous baobab trees for firewood to dry out the main crop. Other farmers are glad of the short-term money – but those same trees provide ecological stability for the whole region, and it is the absence of their protective canopies that exposes the whole area to drought and famine.

Act II feels far more propulsive, with all the characters in place and ready to push towards the play’s conclusion. Kargbo gets to briefly shine with a more serious streak in his character as he is forced to assume responsibility after his father, the village chief, dies. He also loses stage time, though, which is to the show’s detriment.

That does allow more time to be devoted to the relationship between William and his father. Mazibuko and Nwachukwu portray a bond that becomes more fraught as the famine hits, but is ever tinged with affection. With family and friends – and William’s dog, portrayed by some beautiful puppetry work – at risk from the prowling hyena of death, one can quite understand why a child’s tinkering with scrap metal at a time of crisis might not be understood, much less supported.

Of course, the windmill does rise and spin, as we know it would. What could be a moment of triumph and emotional catharsis is somewhat muted, though, thanks to a diversion that races through the real-life William’s worldwide fame in the years following. A diversion into how he was welcomed to a TED Talk detracts from the emotional beat of the play’s true conclusion.

But that’s a rare fumble. Throughout, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is full of charm, and a testament to the power of imagination, determination, resilience and community. It feels unlikely to have the staying power of some of the RSC’s other West End musical forays, but it nevertheless remains a joyful, uplifting work.

Scott Matthewman