By Carl Grose
Directed by Tom Morris
★★★★
‘Defies theatrical convention by keeping its hand on its heart and its tongue in its cheek’
★★★★
‘Blackly comic brilliance’
★★★★
‘Weird and wonderful, a dark delight’
‘An extraordinary amalgam of fairytale, puppetry, romantic drama and black comedy’
‘The best puppetry since War Horse’
Following its hugely successful premiere at Bristol Old Vic where it received nightly standing ovations, the critically acclaimed new musical The Grinning Man transfers to the West End for a limited season only.
From Tony Award-winning director Tom Morris (War Horse), Kneehigh writer Carl Grose and featuring ‘an outstanding score’ (Sunday Times) by Tim Phillips and Marc Teitler, The Grinning Man is a magical reimagining of the classic novel by Victor Hugo (Les Misérables).
A strange new act has arrived at the fairground. Who is Grinpayne and how did he get his hideous smile? Paraded as a freak, then celebrated as a star, only the love of a sightless girl can reveal his terrible secret.
Set in a fantastical world created by designer Jon Bausor (Bat Out of Hell), and brought to life with the visually stunning puppetry of Gyre & Gimble, the original War Horse puppeteers, The Grinning Man invites you to be seduced by the darkness from 6 December.