The Last Five Years – Reading Rep Theatre and Touring

Martha Kirby and Guy Woolf in The Last Five Years at Reading Rep Theatre. Picture: Alex Tabrizi

The Last Five Years was reviewed at Reading Rep Theatre where it continues until 11 October 2025. The production then visits the Barn Theatre, Cirencester (17 October to 15 November) and Theatre Royal Bath’s Ustinov Studio (25 November to 3 January).

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Following on from the Broadway revival earlier this year, it is good to see this two-hander written by Tony Award-winner Jason Robert Brown return to this side of the Pond. The intimacy of the script suggests, in lots of ways, that it is more suited to a smaller regional venue than 44th Street’s Hudson Theatre and all the associated paraphernalia that goes with presenting this story to a more mainstream audience in a larger auditorium.

At Reading Rep, the black box studio is the perfect environment for an audience to emotionally engage in the deteriorating relationship between Cathy and Jamie. The five-year timeline illustrates the turbulent reality of love, with Jamie’s side of the story starting at the beginning and Cathy reflecting on their marriage in reverse, studying the role that temptation, ambition and apathy can play.

Sublimely directed on a small stage by Hal Chambers (with Georgina Lamb as choreographer and movement director), a raised square platform provides mutual space for Jamie and Cathy in their united moments but also encompasses the times when they are emotionally distanced from each other, their movements dexterously choreographed around the perimeter. Set and costume design are by Ethan Cheek, with lighting from Jonathan Chan and sound from Matthew Giles.

The atmosphere of this Built By Barn production is intimate yet charged with an external energy from the four musicians who weave in and out of the narrative. MD Ellie Verkerk-Hughes, Rebecca Demmer, Wills Mercado and Angus Tikka are primarily focused on delivering the soaring music that so beautifully supports the powerful vocals from Martha Kirby and Guy Woolf as Cathy and Jamie, but they also cleverly provide a voyeuristic presence in addition to stepping into the limelight to heighten key moments and support the storyline.

Kirby and Woolf carry the story with conviction and honesty, capturing the complexities of the characters, and create a dynamic that is authentic and human.

Julie Watterston