REVIEW: THE DEVIL AND THE DANCER @ YE OLDE ROSE AND CROWN THEATRE PUB

🎭 The Devil and the Dancer

📍 Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre Pub, 53 Hoe Street, London, E17 4SA

🗓 Wednesday 15th April 2026

⭐️ 4 Stars

GRIMM TALES AND SHARP TONGUES!

Last night I was invited along to see THE DEVIL AND THE DANCER, a brand-new play by Paul Stone, and honestly, I had no idea what to expect. But it turns out it's everything you could want from a night out. It's fun, it's biting, it's satirical, and - best of all - it's wonderfully queer!

Based on two of the Brothers Grimm's deeper cuts, the plot is classic fairy-tale fodder with a twist. We've got a princess who's locked in her bedroom every night falling in love with a somewhat abandoned boy, and a tyrant King who's convinced this union will be his downfall. Naturally, he sets the boy an uncompletable task and some unanswerable questions. You know the drill for sure - but I guarantee you haven't seen it done like this!

Paul Stone's writing is genuinely clever. We're tucked away in this mystical, folklore world, yet sharp-tongued jokes about Nigel Farage and cultural references such as the EastEnders doof-doofs keep the whole thing feeling incredibly relevant and recognisable. The plot itself is simple enough to follow, but it's the wordplay and the wit that really make this such a joy to sit through.

And the music! Stone has taken well-known songs and twisted them into something that had the audience in stitches. The absolute highlight though was the King singing about his late daughters Marge and Tina, who had both died on their wedding days. When he wailed "Don't cry for me Marge and Tina" to the tune of Lloyd Webber's Evita, the entire room just erupted. Pure theatrical gold.

What really radiates from the stage is unapologetic joy. This show doesn't take itself too seriously, and frankly, I never knew I needed the Devil depicted as a drag queen until now, but I'm absolutely here for it!

The international cast brings so much gusto to the pub theatre space. Gerardo Cabal is gloriously camp, while Simon Lawrence gives us that perfect cocktail of smugness and stupidity that every good stage King needs.

Yes, being a preview, it's still a bit rough around the edges - a few scene changes could be snappier for example - but these can be easily smoothed over, and frankly they were easy to overlook. This show has oodles of heart and is quite simply loads of fun.

If you want a night of mystical queer magic and a bloody good laugh, then get yourself down to Walthamstow for tonight's final performance. Click here for 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 person.

My ticket for this performance of The Devil and the Dancer was gifted by Paul Stone 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 LIST:

Marieke Kuphal; Simon Lawrence; Gerardo Cabal; Shuqi Yu; Baptiste Semin; Rhoda Kill; Rhoda Kill

RUNNING TIME (approx):

55 minutes, with no interval

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