An Oak Tree at The Other Palace Review
Vicarious. Human. Moving. An Oak Tree, written & performed by Tim Crouch and co-directed by Crouch and Karl James, follows a stage hypnotist meeting the father of a young girl he accidentally killed with his car after he volunteers to be part of his act. But the live theatre experiment begins as the actor playing the father opposite Crouch is a different surprise guest each night, who has never seen or read the script before. The guest actor on the night I attended this performance (7th October 2026), who I will be referencing throughout this review was the wonderful Gwyneth Keyworth, known for her work on Misfits, Death Valley, and Black Mirror. An Oak Tree has an incredible line up of guest actors during its run at The Other Palace as part of the Francesca Moody Productions Season, offering a wholly unique theatrical experience for each audience.
This is the first time I have attended an experimental, surprise guest performance after being previously intrigued by Nassim Soleimanpour’s White Rabbit, Red Rabbit and Echo. These theatre experiences offer the audience an exciting insight into the creative process and binds them to the performers on stage, as we discover the story exactly as they do. As we entered the theatre, Keyworth was sat in the front row of the audience in her own clothes which immediately placed her from our perspective; if we hadn’t known who was appearing in the show that night, we may have thought she had a ticket just like the rest of us. Keyworth was brought on to stage and introduced by Crouch, highlighting her as guest and clearly telling us the format and concept of the production. There was no hiding from the process we were about to watch and Keyworth’s genuine vulnerability throughout the piece brought another layer to Crouch’s writing. Crouch entirely allows you to live through Keyworth’s character, all dialogue is scripted even though moments of the guest being nervous and Crouch referring to them by their real name feel natural. The audience is taken from the awkward, giggling, fear of the unknown to seeing a father’s grief unlocked on stage and you feel safe in knowing that all reactions and thoughts from the actor are genuine, provoking real heartfelt reactions from the audience too. I felt as though I was Keyworth, hearing the instructions, seeing her thought processes and feeling just as she does in every moment.
Tim Crouch is the brilliant catalyst of An Oak Tree and acts as an anchor for the piece. You can see that the guest is completely under his instruction, and he is seasoned in bringing this show to life after first performing it at Edinburgh Fringe in 2005. 21 years later, he is still inviting new performers into the emotionally impactful world he has created and drives the story as the commanding, but quite unlikable hypnotist. His character choosing to humiliate the father during his hypnotism and disregarding other volunteers paints him as the villain of the story, which is exactly what allows the guest star to shine no matter the acting choices they make with the script. You can see that this script has been perfected over the years, creating a seamless play that can be inhabited by any actor who is willing. It is an emotional rollercoaster, but Crouch is in control.
The stripped-back design and technical elements of An Oak Tree add another layer of vulnerability to the performance. Choosing to have a bare stage aside from a few chairs, a piano stool and a table with scripts and a sound desk maintains the feeling that you are watching the creation of something, looking more like a rehearsal room than a stage. The audience must imagine the world the same way the guest star does. Nothing is given to you freely in this play, and it is wonderful to see a piece that motivates the audience to think, feel and imagine for themselves.
The most brilliant thing about this production is that I’m reviewing a show you will never see again. Tomorrow night a new guest will give the audience an entirely different experience, a unique thing that can only be brought to life through live theatre. I urge you to go and experience this for yourselves. Some of the other notable names starring in this production’s run include Juliet Stevenson, Donal Finn and Suranne Jones.
An Oak Tree is running at The Other Palace from the 7th to the 15th of October 2026, and start times vary across the run.
★★★★
Written by George for Theatre and Tonic, October 2026.
