The Pleasures of Fanny: A Murder Mystery Musical – Brick Lane Music Hall

Nestled in a Grade II-listed church in Silvertown, the Brick Lane Music Hall prides itself on being the “world’s only permanent home for music hall”. Having never visited the venue before, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the spectacle truly wowed me from the moment I walked through the door. Colourful decorations adorn every nook and cranny, with hand-painted signage and more than a touch of old-school British camp. You truly feel like you’ve stepped into another time, and the attention to detail is superb.

As is tradition in music hall, all of Brick Lane Music Hall’s performances include a full meal within the very reasonable ticket price, making it great value for a light-hearted night out. The food was tasty, the bar well stocked, and the staff were great, although it would have been nice to have jugs of water ready on the table to accompany the meal.

There was sadly some sort of issue on press night that meant that the doors opened late, and consequently The Pleasures of Fanny didn’t start until 9pm once the meal was over. Despite the late start, the audience – clearly packed with Brick Lane Music Hall regulars – welcomed the production with plenty of enthusiasm. I myself was excited for what was billed as a ‘murder mystery musical’, so I was disappointed to discover that this wasn’t really the most accurate description of this show.

Instead, The Pleasures of Fanny is more akin to a lesser version of The Play That Goes Wrong. The show is centred around the present-day Silvertown Lovies Amateur Group (the SLAGs) as they attempt to stage post-war musical The Pleasures of Fanny. Of course, things don’t run smoothly, with set pieces falling, spotlights in the wrong place, and cast members not knowing what they’re doing. This all takes up nearly the whole of Act One, and it’s unfortunately not very funny. The physical comedy is clunky, the characters feel flimsy, and the innuendo-heavy jokes fall flat.

The best moments are the musical numbers, which include classic music hall standards including ‘Daisy Bell, ‘The Lambeth Walk, and ‘Maybe It’s Because I’m a Londoner’. The cast bring a classic East End charm to the songs that gets the audience clapping and swaying along, and they’re pretty well integrated within the thin plot.

My main gripe was that the murder mystery ended up being extremely inconsequential – the murder doesn’t happen until the end of Act One, and there isn’t much deduction going on in Act Two. Instead, every table in the audience is tasked with voting for who they think the murderer is. This would be a lovely touch and great fun, if only we’d actually been given any sort of evidence or shown a bit of interrogation. Instead, I selected pretty randomly and wasn’t surprised to find out my guess was incorrect.

While the script was lacking, the cast were not. Co-writer Shannon Rewcroft is delightful as a doe-eyed Sweet Fanny Hood, Lucy Reed shines as seductress Mary Garden, and Vincent Hayes MBE brings a cheeky twinkle in his eyes as he leads the audience in a many a singalong.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t feel like The Pleasures of Fanny can decide what it wants to be. I’d have much preferred if it dropped the tedious mishaps of the theatre company and focused on the murder mystery aspect of the plot – especially as this is what the advertising is so heavily focused on.

There were moments of joyful fun within The Pleasures of Fanny, and I can tell that a more straight-forward night of music or pantomime would be a hoot within this truly charming venue. I’d love to return to the Brick Lane Music Hall, but The Pleasures of Fanny unfortunately didn’t hit all the right notes for me.

The Pleasures of Fanny plays at Brick Lane Music Hall until 6th October. Tickets are available to buy athttps://bricklanemusichall.co.uk/

Reviewer: Olivia Cox

Reviewed: 3rd October 2026

North West End UK Rating: