Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial – Ambassadors Theatre

Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial is a fun retelling of the court trial between Rebekah Vardy and Colleen Rooney. The sensationalised story struts into the west end for a second run and brings together 7 days of court transcripts into a show that is surprisingly funny and entertaining. The cast and the creatives do not hold back in ridiculing Rebekah and Colleen, whilst at times this can be funny, there is something almost patronising undertone of undermining two young women.

Halema Hussain and Nathan McMullen play two sports pundits who transform the transcripts into a football match. Nathan and Halema are a great double act and use their excellent comic timing to make this show hilarious! I enjoyed the way Halema at Italy transitioned between characters and Nathan’s Wayne Rooney impersonation was hysterical. Halema and Nathan help the show together, by crucially explaining key elements of the plot to the audience.

Lucy May Barker brought lots of attitude to the role of Rebekah Vardy, she realistically brought to life all the emotions of the trial and had some funny moments reading out the witness statements. Lucy’s facial expressions during all the freeze frame moments were also very funny! Laura Dos Santos stayed in character throughout the play reacting to every moment on stage. Laura created a lot of empathy for Colleen but also managed to ridicule her with her characterisation of Colleen. Laura’s focus and attention to detail helped to make the show engaging.

Jonnie Broadbent owns the stage as Lawyer Hugh Tomlinson QC, he gives a powerful performance and makes a good point of intimidating the witnesses and highlighting the farcical nature of the trial. Tom Turner gives an engaging argument as Lawyer David Sherborne, and also uses his good comic timing to help make the questioning more fun.

The Wagatha Christie Trial show does a good job of representing both sides of the argument and showing by highlighting how both parties hid key evidence that made it challenging for the court to reach a conclusion on who was at fault. If you know nothing about the trial this show will give you a clear overview of the key events and also highlights some of the dangers of the relationship between celebrities and the media. The show is slightly biassed towards Colleen Rooney, the show opens with Colleen pleading to the audience, which immediately makes Colleen the victim in the scenario.

When the argument between Rebekah and Colleen escalated it was inevitable that it would end up as a drama on TV, but in an unexpected twist the story made its way to the West End First. Whilst it’s certainly impressive how quickly this story was adapted into a well paced and funny west end show! The fundamental flaw in this show is that most of the humour comes from ridiculing real people in a way that at times borders on offensive. Whilst most of the audience gasped at a comment that a member of the public had wished Rebekah’s son died, one man laughed very loudly at a point that was supposed to be serious and thought provoking. Consequently, I’m not sure if the audience is provoked into throwing more hate towards these celebrities. Any serious points the play makes about the press and undermined by the jibes made towards the characters. Nonetheless this show is still an entertaining night out filled with funny surprises.

Playing until 20th May, https://www.theambassadorstheatre.co.uk/shows/vardy-v-rooney-the-wagatha-christie-trial

Reviewer: Jennifer Laishley

Reviewed: 12th April 2023

North West End UK Rating: ★★★