Backstairs Billy - Duke of York's

Saw this last night and liked it a lot. Some of it is pretty silly - think Joe Orton on the props front - but then there are shafts of genuine emotion and it's beautifully acted down the line. (And the design is gorgeous as might be expected.) After the spate of West End debacles of late, here is a play and production that more than earns its place on the West End and how lucky is Marcelo dos Santos to follow this play up with an opening a week later at the Bush that comes feted already.

Saw this tonight Row AA omg 😱 it’s close says high stage but wasn’t too high for us I’m 6ft lots of leg room under the stage overhang but you face is literally next to the stage lol ….

Great view you could see every nook cranny and crease I’m not saying where either 🤔😊 but omg 😱

A fun evening I agree with all other comments Luke and Penelope have a great connection a couple of stumbles over lines from both tonight but we can forgive them anything

Some of the one liners made me think of Margo / Audrey Forbes Hamilton …. A few real laugh out loud moments quite a few chuckles and some more poignant moments

One ruined by the women behind ooo ing and coooing at the corgis awwww how cute awwww bless look at his face … totally ruining Penelope’s lines ..

I see what people mean about that scene. Did seems a bit extreme compared to the rest of the evening but I get what it means

A really great supporting cast. Lovely set. Great theatre staff too which really helps an evening out

Looked like a full house and standing ovation 👏 for final bows
I’d go again 4/5

Anyone try ticket rush for this? I was 👀on this show but i was waiting for soma reviews. They've come and i look at website and all cheaper tickets are gone on stalls (in like theater but 95 pounds for ticket is too much)
For all these 3 shows i was 👀 this is the most costly one

Poll added.

Haha, I was in BB on Thurs, I know exactly what you mean!!

I found this a pitifully sad endeavour

Again another poor piece of writing straight to the WE

Utterly bizarre

I wonder if actors are genuinely this desperate for work

This Lear and Lyonesse all playing close to each other

It’s like a Theatrical Triangle of Turd

I suppose Michael Grandage has to pay for Christmas costs

Needs must

Joking aside

I actually found some of the jokes and caricatures with respect to gay characters incredibly offensive

We are in 2023

Homosexuality remains illegal in 64 countries

7 still have the death penalty in place

I don’t need to see a pantomime version of perceived historical hardships

For some people this remains a dangerous reality

The whole project smacks of a back slapping exercise for the playwright, director and actor

As someone normally sensitive to dialogue or characterisation about which lurks something with an unpleasant whiff of homophobia, I had not the slightest problem with this piece. Perhaps also worth noting that the lead is openly gay himself.

Just seen this and thought it was OK. It was more a constant smattering of low level laughter than any big set piece comedy moments.

A pleasant enough way to spend a couple of hours, no real belly laughs but it kept an energetic tempo throughout under Michael Grandage’s directorship.

But, as suited to the role as Evans was, Penelope Wilton stole the show with her gentle - yet at times less kind - depiction of the Queen Mother. A genuine privilege to see her perform.

Marcelo Dos Santos’ Backstairs Billy won’t have any sort of lasting impact. But it’s an enjoyable snapshot of particular snapshot inside Clarence House and immortalises Billy’s unlikely story.

I agree it did feel rather 1970s sitcom style. Which is fine if done well and this was executed reasonably well, unlike the pretty poor comedy play The Unfriend earlier this year.

Three stars.

I found BB rather charming and actually really funny. Of course it's a snapshot rather than a deep dive into the people and their relationship, but I enjoyed that aspect. I thought there were interesting comments on gay men in service, and how while the QM was probably rather jolly and whimsical, she was still a woman who looked at many of the people around her as spectacle and for her amusement. Loved the performances from all.