REVIEW: DARKLING @ BUSH THEATRE

🎭 Darkling

📍 Bush Theatre, 7 Uxbridge Road, London, W12 8LJ

🗓 Tuesday 15 September 2026

⭐️ 3 Stars

A DAZZLING DESIGN AND A DRIFTING MIND

The Bush Theatre is well known for presenting bold, new work that pushes the boundaries, and as I travelled across London to Shepherd's Bush earlier this week I was full of anticipation.

Walking into the auditorium, the stage looked striking. There was a stark raised platform in the middle, surrounded by a thick layer of soil. This sets the scene for the incredible creative decisions that are to come in this production. Simon Kenny's design is a thing of beauty indeed, and the use of water and flames on the stage throughout are brilliantly utilised.

The play itself centres on a young, unnamed girl - simply known as 'She' - growing up in Bhopal, India, in the lead-up to the catastrophic 1984 gas leak. It is a deeply personal story that tackles massive, crushing themes of environmental ruin, systemic poverty, and the heavy weight of gender expectations. We watch her journey from an ambitious child running through the streets to an adult facing unimaginable, unrelenting trauma when the local pesticide factory turns into a toxic monster.

Which brings me to Titas Halder's writing. To be honest, I have mixed feelings. There's no denying that the writing has a great structure, it's just that it struggled to keep my attention. It certainly explores some bold and dark themes, but it struggles with its pacing, taking too long to say what it wants to say. As the play progresses, it starts to feel somewhat repetitive. This unfortunately meant my mind wandered repeatedly, and I had to really focus myself to pay attention. It was as if I began to dip in and out of the story, and found myself having to catch up in my mind. I can't help but feel the script would benefit from some editing. Sometimes, it felt as if twenty words were used when five would've been more than enough. Because it struggled to retain my attention, I believe I missed some aspects of the story because when reading the content warnings after the performance, I read about issues I didn't realise had been raised!

Thankfully, Matthew Xia's direction uses the space wonderfully. A one-person play in a space this size could easily get lost, but this definitely isn't the case here. Alongside Anjali Mehra's movement direction, the movement uses every inch of the room, making the space feel alive.

Carrying the weight of this heavy narrative is Linnea Berthelsen, making a highly anticipated UK stage debut. You might know her from Stranger Things, but out here on the dirt-covered stage, she is utterly captivating. She bounces around with the breathless, frantic energy of a child at the start, and then seamlessly shifts her voice and body to play multiple characters with zero costume changes. Watching her physically portray the sheer horror of the gas leak and the devastating trauma of a subsequent miscarriage is deeply moving. She works incredibly hard to keep the emotional pulse of the piece alive, even when the text slows her down.

The standout star of the evening for me though was the incredible lighting design by Rajiv Pattani. In possibly one of the strongest lighting designs I have seen on any stage this year, the lighting gives glorious contrasts, wonderfully elevating the scenes. Pattani gives us gorgeous, glowing blues to represent Bhopal as the 'city of lakes' and lush greens for the countryside, before letting the cold, harsh light of the encroaching factory slowly poison the landscape. It is visual storytelling at its absolute finest, painting the emotional highs and terrifying lows directly onto the stage.

Finally, the compositions from Niraj Chag are gloriously atmospheric. The soundscape wraps around you, weaving subtle birdsong into the early, innocent moments before building a looming, industrial dread that perfectly mirrors the tightening knot of the story.

In a show with production values this high, it really is a shame how much the writing actually lets it down. However, I strongly believe that with some tightening and a shorter runtime that this really could be something special.

DARKLING continues performances at Bush Theatre until Saturday 24th October, and is definitely worth checking out - especially if you appreciate real creative artistry. CLICK HERE to learn more about the show and to book tickets.

Neill Kovacic-Clarke

All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair, and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one reviewer.  

My ticket for this performance of Darkling was gifted by Bush Theatre, who invited me to watch the show in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given. 

CAST:

Linnea Berthelsen as She

RUNNING TIME (approx):

1 hour 30 minutes, with no interval

CONTENT WARNINGS:

Depictions of blood, vomiting, and injury; Description of death, pregnancy loss and stillbirth; Descriptions of sex and sexual violence, including sexual violence against children; Descriptions of abuse, including abuse of children, emotional abuse and domestic coercion; References to body hatred and suicide ideation; References to harassment and bullying, sexism, classism and ableism; Description of arranged marriage, patriarchal control and child labour; Discussion of environmental contamination, corporate negligence and mass animal death; Discussion of racism, discrimination and prejudice; Use of strong language; Descriptions of alcohol consumption and drunkenness

AGE RECOMMENDATION:

14+

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