Based on the medieval Arthurian poem, Gawain and the Green Knight is a new reinterpretation by Felix Grainger and Gabriel Fogartey-Graveson, that transposes the story to a modern-day corporate setting.
Cybersecurity firm Camelot Corp is undergoing major restructuring and rebranding. The CEO Arthur (Cara Steele) has decided to adopt a new model that mimics stories of the heroic Knights of the Round Table. Gary (Felix Grainger) – redubbed Gawain – is being sacked (exiled) just before Christmas for being too boring and lacking “spark”. When a mysterious green stranger shows up at the office Christmas party and proposes a game, Gawain accepts the challenge, beheads the stranger, and wins the respect of his boss. One year later, Gawain must uphold his end of the game and journey by elevator to the Green Chapel to meet his fate.
Gawain does not set out on his journey until just before the interval, and as a result the first half deals mostly with the corporate restructuring and rebranding. This is the weaker part of the show. Cara Steel and Gabriel Fogarty-Graveson have fun hamming it up as scenery-chewing corporate villains, but for every joke that lands another falls flat. These characters and the company as a whole are too cartoonish to get emotionally invested in, and the situation is far too specific to work as satire of the corporate world as a whole. Laura Pujos as “Guinevere” provides some much-needed sincerity and heart, as well as a dryer style of humour (and a beautiful singing voice!), but the other performers aren’t given material that lets them shine… yet.
After the interval, once Gawain begins his quest, the play finds it stride. Thrown into a strange, Medieval-fantasy world, Felix Grainger (Gawain) is the perfect earnest, fish-out-of-water straight man. The other actors multirole to play the many strange people and creatures that Gawain encounters along his journey. Cara Steele excels as a forest dryad, flitting about the stage with both whimsy and terrifying intensity. Laura Pujos and Gabriel Fogarty-Graveson are extremely funny as a bizarre couple who invite Gawain into their home with the intention of seducing him. These performances would probably have been even more impactful had the earlier office scenes not been also so over-the-top. The actors are helped greatly here by the very funny script, which is full of all sorts of different kinds of jokes, from fourth wall breaking, to Python-esque silliness, to wordplay and puns.
Kelly Ann Stewart’s direction is fantastic. She creatively brings the more fantastical elements to life with skill and humour. Some moments of magic and mystery are genuinely exciting and impressive, while others are delivered with a wry, self-aware sense of humour. Many elements of the story are clearly very challenging to depict onstage, such as Gawain’s horse, but Stewart’s direction always finds a way to do it, usually to great comic effect.
The costumes – designed by Ciéranne Kennedy-Bell – are wonderful. They are ever so slightly cheesy, but in a way that perfectly suits the tone and humour of the show. Likewise, the set and props are also great. Filing cabinets line the walls, and an elevator complete with functioning lights and sliding doors carries Gawain along his journey. Gawain’s gorgeous shield gradually lights up as he learns to embody five chivalric virtues.
Despite a shaky start, Gawain and the Green Knight ends up being a hilarious and highly enjoyable play. With a heart-warming happy ending, it is well worth going to see for a light-hearted and festive evening out.
Gawain and the Green Knight runs until 24th December, with tickets available at https://parktheatre.co.uk/
Reviewer: Charles Edward Pipe
Reviewed: 12th December 2025
North West End UK Rating: