Sylvia

★★★★☆     Thrilling

Festival Theatre: Tue 13 – Sat 17 Oct 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson

Sylvia is a gorgeously melodic, exciting piece of theatre, sung brilliantly. The musical itself has undoubted flaws, but the performances more than compensate.

The musical tells the story of socialist and women’s rights campaigner Sylvia Pankhurst (Naomi Katiyo). It was first staged in its completed form in London in 2023, with a book by Kate Prince (who also wrote the lyrics) and Priya Parmar, and music by Josh Cohen and DJ Walde.

A Scene from Sylvia. Pic: Tristram Kenton.

Much of the focus of the narrative is on Sylvia’s relationship with her mother Emmeline (Beverley Knight) and their differing views on the tactics of the Women’s Social and Political Union.

Emmeline runs the organisation as something of a dictator, and is unhappy about Sylvia’s insistence on promoting working-class women and linking their campaigns to broader social issues. Sylvia, a pacifist, is meanwhile increasingly uneasy about some of the tactics endorsed by the WSPU.

The musical sits somewhere in the intersection between Hamilton, Horrible Histories and good old-fashioned political musical theatre in the 7:84 tradition. The Hamilton comparisons come from the use of hip-hop elements, although much of the music is more derived from 70s soul and funk.

irresistible

The result is a dynamic, uptempo mixture which proves irresistible. Backed by a glorious onstage band under MD Sean Green, the 17-strong cast sing, dance and act up a storm. Consciousness-raising anthems sit happily side by side with more reflective numbers and outright comedy.

A Scene from Sylvia. Pic: Tristram Kenton.

The script is intelligent, approachable and unashamed in its use of modern language and references, from Keir Hardie (Tachia Newall) feeling guilty about ‘mansplaining’ to Jennie Churchill (Kenedy Small) yelling ‘brrap!’ when castigating her son Winston (Castell Parker). Prince’s choreography is fluid, varied and constantly captivating, and her direction is inventive.

The entire company are very fine, with special mentions due to Collette Guitart as Clementine Churchill, Kelly Agbowu as Flora Drummond and Uzuazo O’David as Harry Pankhurst. But it is the mother-and-daughter duo who really dominate proceedings.

raise-the-roof magnificent

It should be said that Knight needs no introduction, but she is still not as well known as she deserves to be. Her voice here is simply raise-the-roof magnificent; soulful, expressive and always using just enough power and emotion. Katiyo is every bit her equal, shining particularly in acting through song, and with a commanding presence.

As a spectacle, the production is very impressive. The design of Ben Stones is simple but effective, while the sound design of Tony Gayle is notably good. Natasha Chivers and Hector Murray’s lighting adds impact.

A Scene from Sylvia. Pic Tristram Kenton

The colour palette of the production is oddly limited, however – black and white in the first half, tinged with red as Sylvia becomes more active in Labour politics, with the expected purple, white and green of the WPSU oddly absent.

Excellent as much of the show is, it’s undoubtedly let down slightly by its narrative. The story tries to do far too much, even in a near-three-hour running time. Even with Andrzej Goulding’s very good video design doing a lot of filling in, there are still too many sub-plots and too many occasions where characters are telling each other things rather than interacting dramatically. After the show-stopping confrontation between Emmeline and Sylvia early in Act Two, the narrative becomes terribly overstuffed and decidedly bumpy.

relentlessly upbeat tone

There is also a problem with the relentlessly upbeat tone; when difficult moments arise, such as the family rifts, or even more seriously the force-feeding of suffragette prisoners, they can seem inadequate, almost throwaway.

However, there can be no complaints from anyone about value for money from a melodic and infectiously exciting production.

Running time: Two hours and 50 minutes (including one interval).
Festival Theatre, 13/29 Nicholson Street, EH8 9FT.
Tuesday 13 – Saturday 17 October 2026.
Daily: 7.30pm; Thurs, Sat mats: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.

Sylvia website: https://sylviamusicaluk.com/

A Scene from Sylvia. Pic: Tristram Kenton.

ENDS

Tags: Andrzej Goulding, Ben Stones, Beverley Knight, Castell Parker, Collette Guitart, DJ Walde, Festival Theatre, Hector Murray, Hugh Simpson, Josh Cohen, Kate Prince, Kelly Agbowu, Kenedy Small, Musicals, Naomi Katiyo, Natasha Chivers, Priya Parmar, Review, Sean Green, Sylvia, Tachia Newall, Theatre, Tony Gayle, Uzuazo O’David