I sat in the back row of Soho Theatre Walthamstow on a warm July evening, programme in hand, wondering how on earth you turn the life of Sir Grayson Perry into a musical. Not just any musical, mind you, but one that clocks in at 140 minutes and promises to tackle cross-dressing, therapy and an alter ego called Alan Measles without losing its sense of mischief. The house lights dimmed, and I realised I was about to find out.
The show, which opened yesterday as a strictly limited run of preview performances, follows Perry from his working-class upbringing on an Essex council estate to the moment his work lands at the Tate. It is billed as a first look ahead of any potential fuller production, and the modesty feels refreshing in an age when every new piece seems to arrive with West End fanfare already baked in. Grayson the Musical lets the material breathe. Or at least it tries to.
Jack Shalloo plays Grayson with a sort of wide-eyed restlessness that captures the man’s restless curiosity. Rebekah Hinds is Philippa, Sooz Kempner appears as Barb, and the supporting cast includes Sam Lupton doubling as Colin and an art dealer, Lemuel Knights as the unforgettable Alan Measles, Gloria Onitiri as the therapist, Katy Baker as the teacher, and young Elliott Norrington as the boy Grayson himself. Lucy Park, Josh Lay and Ben Welch round out the ensemble. Sean Foley directs with a light touch that never quite tips into reverence.
The story they chose to tell
What struck me most was how unapologetically the piece leans into the messiness of identity. The book is by Sara-Ella Ozbek, the music by Richard Thomas, and the lyrics and life story come straight from Perry. He does not appear on stage, which somehow makes the whole enterprise feel less like authorised hagiography and more like a conversation with his younger self. There is humour, yes, but also long stretches where the auditorium grows quiet as the cast explores family, self-acceptance and the peculiar pain of not quite fitting the mould you were handed.
I found myself thinking about how rarely mainstream theatre trusts audiences with this kind of gentle honesty anymore. Too often we get either frantic spectacle or lectures dressed up as entertainment. Here the balance feels closer to the humanist impulse that theatre at its best has always served: the dignity of seeing your contradictions reflected back at you without judgment, and the relief of laughing at them together.
Performances run from 16 to 19 July only. Tickets start from £25. The show is recommended for ages 14 and over.
The 16 July performance is being filmed for a documentary, and on the 18th there will be a free post-show question-and-answer session with Perry hosted by Foley after the 2.30pm matinee. I suspect those seats will be the first to go. The run is short, almost deliberately so, as if the creators want to test the waters before committing to anything grander. In that restraint there is a quiet confidence.
