This new musical version by Lindy Robbins, Dave Bassett and Steve Robson is the latest in a long series of versions of this piece. It was first performed as a play in 1942 and a substantially revised version transferred to Broadway in 1945. It was produced in London at the Lyric Hammersmith in 1948 and the Ambassadors Theatre in 1949.
The story has not been updated. It is effectively a fairytale about a rural Appalachian community who live in close proximity to a coven of witches in the nearby Smoky Mountains. One of the witches, John (Witch Boy), is enamoured with one of the human girls, Barbara Allen, and seeks to develop a relationship with her, to the dismay of both communities. Its theme is the clash between cultures with the boy/ girl relationship mirroring that of Romeo and Juliet. It is not a deep story. Its only real message was that the human condition is hard alleviated only by its brevity. Mind you, the life of the witches, albeit eternal, did not seem to be much more fulfilling.
The production is very lively and engaging. There is lots of music. The rural folk sing in a very pleasant country style and, in contrast, the witches sang and danced to a strident rock beat. The performers were all miked and from the front of the stalls I found the volume a little excessive. The set was a rustic wood construction which opened out to reveal the inside of Barbara Allen’s house and a shop. The top of the construction made a useful vantage point for the witches to observe and comment upon the activities of the humans below. The witches were dressed in evocative clothing with veins visible on their bodysuits and distressed material which made it seem that they were almost disintegrating in front of our eyes. An essential feature of the fable is that the witches cannot be seen by the humans and so they weaved between the humans in an ethereal and, at times, suggestive manner.
The cast were excellent and the singing and dancing well-choreographed. The characters in this piece are not complex, but I did particularly like Martin Callaghan’s performance as the preacher, a sympathetic character, able to straddle the human and the supernatural worlds. Unlike many musicals it sustained the story and avoided a saccharine ending.
Would I recommend this production? If you are prepared to suspend your disbelief and accept the two-dimensional nature of the characters, then this makes for a very enjoyable evening of musical theatre.
Dark of the Moon is playing at the Charing Cross Theatre until 8th August 2026. Tickets are available from https://charingcrosstheatre.tixtrack.com/
Reviewer: Paul Ackroyd
Reviewed: 26th May 2026
North West End UK Rating: