REVIEW: THE INHERITORS at The Hope Theatre 19 – 23 May 2026

‘one of the best plays you’ll see all year’ ★★★★ ½

Few things are quite as sticky as family infighting. Stirring life or death issues in alongside pointless and petulant grudges, love and hate intermixes effortlessly to create the kind of conflict that can underpin the best dramas, from King Lear to Succession. Joining these works now is Ally Manson’s The Inheritors, a debut play that has all the makings of a future classic.

Set in Finland, though performed almost entirely in English, the play sees Manson play a distant brother returned to the rural lakeside cabin which his now deceased father used to own. |He is set to spend the night with his estranged half-sister (Sini Mattila) and half-brother (Marius Laiho) who have seen and heard little of him for years. Much mystery and repressed feeling bubbles under the surface of all involved as the siblings dance around each other, asking innocent questions that soon show to be less than innocent, probing defenses and opening up old wounds. It’s full of delicately balanced tension that the ensemble, a wonderfully strong ensemble to navigate flawlessly.

Manson and Laiho are engaging performers, but Mattila is often the source of the louder, more emotional, and downright funniest moments of the play, stealing the spotlight in the best of ways. Tie all this to playful and effective lighting from Ilja Raunio and a gripping, expertly paced script by Manson and you have hands down one of the best plays you’ll see all year. Individually and collectively, these are artists whose future work we should look forward to.

Nothing’s perfect of course, and there are some areas one could query. Laiho’s character feels a little underdeveloped compared to his siblings (though perhaps this just comes naturally to youngest children) and things speed up quite a bit toward the end after what feels like a very fleshed out beginning and middle. The ending itself will divide people, mainly by its nature, as an emotional gut punch. The surprise it reveals is effective, but comes truly out of left field and without the breadcrumbs or threads that would have hinted toward its coming. It’s purely in character for all involved, but feels a bit too much of a blindside to be fair.

Regardless, none of this gets in the way of a truly excellent show. See it now so you can say you were there.

Runs: 19th – 23rd May 2026

Box Office: https://www.thehopetheatre.com/theinheritors

Cast:

Ally Manson

Marius Laiho

Sini Mattila

Creatives:

Written and Directed by Ally Manson

Sound and Lighting Design by Ilja Raunio

Produced by Helsinki Contemporary Theatre Company