It’s a lovely day for a Guinness but the Park Theatre hasn’t got any on tap. Their replacement, radio host Zeb Soanes, is a captivating storyteller but unfortunately not a convincing Sir Alec in this biographical one man show marking the twenty fifth anniversary of the great actor’s death. It is a testament to his charisma as a performer and his mastery of Mark Burgess’s script that he is able to keep the audience’s attention for what is ultimately a pretty uneventful two hours.
Set and costume designs by Lee Newby and lighting design by Michael Fox are just at the level of competence, capable of communicating context well enough but never rising to the level of inventive expression or even attempting any degree of theatrical flourish. This is particularly disappointing considering the text itself is similarly tame.
Without any stage spectacle to illustrate the monologue it’s more frustrating than illuminating watching a fake Sir Alec Guinness recount a collection of stories collected from autobiographical works audiences are perfectly capable of accessing and enjoying themselves.
The poorly dressed salad of references to Guinness’s desire to make proud an unknown father, his hatred for his inconstant mother, and his wavering interest in various bathing establishments of London are not nearly as salacious in 2026 as Burgess might have expected them to be in 2010 when the play was first produced. Frequent allusions to “gypsy instinct” elicit further discomfort and Burgess’s choice to draw dialogue exclusively from anecdotes Guinness told himself means the show has no emotional engine to keep it chugging along.
Burgess suggests that Guinness was horrified by the thought of being remembered for his work in Star Wars but instead of suggesting an alternate legacy outside of career achievement he organizes the play’s events around his own personal favourite of Guinness’s performances, suggesting that it’s fine to be defined by one role as long as it isn’t one that appeals to children or other ignorami. Two Halves of Guinness is too full of itself for a glass half empty.
Reviewer: Kira Daniels
Reviewed: 23rd April 2026
North West End UK Rating: