Theatre review Star in crisis has a gloriously relatable meltdown

John Cassavetes' 1977 film about a Broadway star in crisis might seem a natural fit for a stage adaptation. Then again, there is the risk of theatrical navalgazing, and with its melange of gothicism, midlife angst and the spy drama, an odd narrative arc to navigate.

- Arifa Akbar

Opening Night
Gielgud theatre, London

To throw songs into the mix composed by Rufus Wainwright in his first foray into musical theatre - and swap the glacial queen liness of Gena Rowlands, who played the troubled superstar Myrtle in the film, for the in suppressible like able Sheridan Smith might have been a step too far - even for a writerdirector with as much appetite for high-wire risk as Ivo van Hove.

Yet here is an extravagantly original production, every bit as eccentric as the film but also its own alchemical creation, more vivacious in this musical incarnation.