REVIEW: Dark of the Moon at Charing Cross Theatre until 8 August 2026

‘Borrowed plots and fabulous fiddling’ ★★ ½

The real star of this show is Maria Jaszewska. She plays violin in the unseen, eight-piece live band led by MD, Matthew Herbert and she’s utterly brilliant. Because the setting is a fictional Appalachian small town – vaguely a few decades back – there’s a lot of very lively folksy music and her zingy, virtuoso playing is a real joy.

Also very strong are Glenn Adamson and Lauren Jones as the leading couple. Dark of the Moon is the Romeo and Juliet story yet again – two people from different communities fall in love so they’re both doomed. But Adamson and Jones are pretty convincing and both sing well, especially together,

The narrative however has as many (plot) holes as a colander and the whole thing is wearily derivative. In the town are ordinary people growing crops, going to church and dancing at hoe-downs. In the nearby mountains is a coven of witches who are malevolently interested in the townsfolk. There are more Shakespeare echoes when “invisible” characters jinx “real” ones (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and the three young witches lurking in the corners and flinging curses about are straight out of Macbeth. Then once John (Glenn Adamson) decides he really does want to be mortal – and there’s a “sua padre” moment (The Marriage of Figaro) when he realises that he’s already half a mortal – we’re straight into Iolanthe territory with a whiff of The Little Mermaid and I’m left beginning to giggle at the corny lack of originality. And that feeling of obviousness is compounded by the use of two different musical styles – hard rock (and some very raucous singing from Josie Benson as Conjur Woman) for the witches contrasted with homely, acoustic folk for the mortals.

And as for the story itself what are we supposed to think these witches actually are? For immortals they’re oddly obsessed with sex. Should there be a literal “witch hunt”? Burning at the stake is mentioned more than once, only half-jokingly, and the time setting is very vague. The potion which drops from the flies for John to drink is absurd. If the witches have influence only in this place then why doesn’t Barbara (Lauren Jones) simply go somewhere else as she keeps mentioning? And for a woman whose hopes and dreams seem to fly independently of her insular community at the start she’s pretty keen to marry and settle down with a baby exactly as her ancestors have always done. Another problem is Conjur Man (Gary Turner) who, unaccountably, seems to become a completely different character in Act 2.

The set (Libby Todd) is grey, angular and suitably sinister with some rather neat flaps which open to reveal a stage right shop and a stage left family home. And the sound and lighting effects are quite fun but on the whole this is not a show I shall be rushing back to. 

WITZEND PRODUCTIONS AND CHARING CROSS THEATRE PRODUCTIONS PRESENT WORLD PREMIERE MUSICAL

DARK OF THE MOON

AT CHARING CROSS THEATRE

18 May – 8 August 2026

Book by Jonathan Prince

Music and Lyrics by Lindy Robbins, Dave Bassett & Steve Robson

Based on THE play by Howard D Richardson and William Berney

BOX OFFICE https://www.charingcrosstheatre.co.uk/

Photography: Tom Bowles