This was easily my favourite new show of 2023 when it first appeared at the Southwark Playhouse. 18 months later, with a slightly tightened script and a new cast, the Curious Case of Benjamin Button at the Ambassador’s Theatre is going to be the big hit of 2025.
It asks: what if life came with a rewind button? F. Scott Fitzgerald’s peculiar tale of a man born old and aging backward has been transplanted from 19th-century Baltimore to the windswept Cornish coast, and the result is a truly magical folk musical. It’s charming and heartbreaking.
Benjamin Button (played by John Dagleish) enters the world as a wrinkled old man in 1918 Cornwall, much to the horror of his mother, who soon after goes on to commit suicide. From there, Benjamin grows younger while everyone else grows older.
Writer-director Jethro Compton has done something extraordinary here. He’s taken Fitzgerald’s cynical fable and infused it with warmth, whimsy, and a touch of mysticism. The decision to relocate the story to Cornwall is genius. The rugged cliffs and tight-knit communities provide the perfect backdrop for Darren Clark’s soaring score, which blends sea shanties with folk ballads in a way that feels timeless yet fresh. The music doesn’t just accompany the story; it is the story. You’ll leave humming tunes that feel like they’ve been passed down through generations.
Dagleish is magnetic as Benjamin, capturing both the bewilderment of a man out of synch with time and the quiet longing of someone desperate to belong. Watching him age backward — from blustering old gent to haunted young man — is mesmerising. His performance is understated but deeply affecting, especially in scenes opposite Clare Foster as Elowen, the fiery barmaid who steals his heart (and yours). Foster is all carpe diem energy – a whirlwind of pragmatism and passion – and her chemistry with Dagleish is palpable. During a deeply emotional scene at the end of Act One, you sit in the audience feeling like you should just step away and leave them to their intensely private and believably moment.
The supporting cast deserves its own standing ovation. They’re all quadruple threats, if not practically superhuman, singing, acting, dancing and playing instruments on stage.
Compton’s direction is deceptively simple but masterful. The staging uses fishing nets, wooden planks, and fairy lights to conjure Cornwall’s landscapes without overwhelming them. Zoe Spurr’s lighting design is equally stunning, shifting from warm glows to stark contrasts that mirror Benjamin’s emotional journey. Chi-San Howard’s choreography adds another layer of magic; characters swirl and sway like waves crashing against cliffs, their movements fluid yet purposeful.
Clark’s score is genius—a cascade of melodies that wash over you like high tide. The actor-musician ensemble creates harmonies so rich you could bottle them up and sell them at farmer’s markets. When the music hits its stride – especially during Benjamin’s wartime years – it’s stirring enough to make even the most cynical viewer believe in magic.
Now for some practical tips: if you’re booking tickets, aim for seats closer to the stage—the intimacy enhances the show’s emotional impact. The Ambassador’s Theatre itself is cosy but charmingly creaky. And while there isn’t a bad seat in the house acoustically (props to Luke Swaffield’s sound design, some rapid-fire lyrics can get lost in ensemble numbers if you’re too far back.
Comparisons are inevitable here—especially with David Fincher’s 2008 film adaptation starring Brad Pitt—but don’t expect CGI wizardry or Hollywood gloss. This Benjamin Button trades spectacle for soul. If anything, it feels closer in spirit to musicals like Once or Come From Away, where music and community take center stage.
So here’s my advice: grab your tickets before they become gold dust (and trust me – they will).