Just For One Day - The Live Aid Musical at Shaftesbury Theatre Review
The cast of Just For One Day - The Musical. Photo by Evan Zimmerman.
Written by Penny for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Forty years ago, the world’s biggest concert made music history. Live Aid saw the 80s’ biggest pop and rock stars take to the stage at venues across two continents to raise money to relieve famine in Africa. The event was largely organised by Bob Geldof of the Boomtown Rats and Midge Ure, lead singer of Ultravox. With their charity single, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, performed by the most super of supergroups imaginable, Band Aid, they started a movement that still raises funds forty years on.
Now, a musical based on the events of July 1985 has opened in London’s West End, following a sold-out run at the Old Vic last year. A jukebox musical with a difference, it takes some of the biggest songs from Live Aid, and reimagines them into a theatrical experience that is a nostalgia trip for people who remember Live Aid and with arrangements and a story that will introduce a whole new generation to this incredible story.
The show starts with an explosion of sound and lighting. The six-piece band launches into the intro. to Do They Know It’s Christmas as a wall of light transports us from London’s West End to Wembley Stadium, just 12 under miles away but a different world to the (mostly) polite etiquette of theatreland. Segueing seamlessly into David Bowie’s Heroes, the cast takes to the stage and the scene is set for two and a half hours of powerhouse vocals and musicianship, and a story that changed history.
Soutra Gilmour’s set is simple but incredibly effective. Dominated by spectacular lighting designed by Howard Hudson and projections from Andrze J Goulding, the ensemble cast members rarely leave the stage, sitting or standing on steps that appear from under the platform that houses the incredible band, under the musical direction of Patrick Hurley. The lighting and visual effects take us in an instant from Wembley to TV studios to the scorched African landscape, ensuring that scene transitions are smooth and the show flows with a fantastic pace.
In the wrong hands, Just For One Day could have been little more than a tribute concert, or a preachy lesson about “charidy”, but John O’Farrell’s script, alongside Matthew Brind’s exceptional musical arrangements, has given us a piece of theatre that tells the Live Aid story in a way that is as entertaining as it is informative. As well as giving us all the emotions those terrible scenes from Africa inspired, it also does not shy away from the criticism that Band Aid received – from the song’s lyrics to accusations of a white saviour complex, ignoring the many barriers to providing aid to those affected. It’s also very funny – from Geldof’s foul-mouthed rants to a bizarre cameo for Margaret Thatcher, it’s a much-needed balance to the emotional impact of the main story and a break from the back-to-back musical anthems.
Telling the story, O’Farrell has not focused on the stars behind Live Aid, but on the ordinary people who felt that their lives were changed on that one day in July 1985. Seen through their eyes, this global event becomes accessible and relatable – amongst others, we meet the sound guy, a young couple working in a record shop and an over-excited member of the Coldstream Guards (who played as Prince Charles and Princess Diana took their seats).
Luke Sheppard’s direction shows a great respect for the Live Aid story – there are no caricatures in his characters (even Thatcher has a little bit of humanity!) and his staging clearly shows the gargantuan task that the team took on. It’s epic but also strangely intimate as we are taken behind the scenes in TV studios, at press conferences and backstage on the big day itself.
Live Aid’s key players are depicted on stage with fantastic performances from Craige Els (Bob Geldof), George Ure (Midge Ure – no relation!) and Tim Mahendran (Harvey Goldsmith). Julie Atherton’s brilliant turn as Margaret Thatcher brings the house down – breaking the fourth wall with the audience and taking part in a Hamilton-esque rap battle with Geldof, “Mr G”, as they fight over VAT (kudos to anybody who can make VAT funny). As Bob Geldof, Els is uncannily good. Only a couple of minutes into the show, I’d forgotten he was acting as he so perfectly embodies Live Aid’s reluctant hero (“don’t call me a f**king hero!”). Els has all of Bob’s passion and anger, prowling across the stage as his frustrations build and giving a spine-tingling vocal and physical performance. His heartbreak at the situation in Ethiopia is raw, gut-wrenching and almost painful to watch. His interactions with African aid worker Amara, beautifully and powerfully played by Rhianne-Louise McCaulsky, bring home the scale of the challenge and the feeling of hopelessness it brought.
The story is framed by the memories of Suzanne (Melissa Jacques). She’s a warm and empathetic narrator, feeling nostalgic as her daughter Jemma (Fayth Ifil) is heading off to University to study the 80s as part of her history degree. Getting over her horror that the 80s is considered “history”, Suzanne tells her daughter the Live Aid story, remembering her younger self, played with a youthful sense of optimism and enthusiasm by Hope Kenna, and reliving the excitement of that summer of 1985. It’s a great way of sharing the nostalgia that anybody who was there in the 80s will feel watching this show with a young, contemporary audience who may be seeing and hearing it all for the first time.
Rather than having actors dress up and mimic the iconic stars of the 80s, the songs are led by members of the ensemble cast who are wearing generic 80s looks. This works so much better than any impersonation – the songs speak for themselves, lyrics becoming poignant in light of the action unfolding – and the talent of this modern cast is a perfect homage to the artists who originally sang the hits.
Without a weak link or a dull moment, Just For One Day is a show that perfectly captures a huge moment in rock history. If you were there, it’ll take you right back to Wembley Stadium on July 13th 1985. If you weren’t, it’s probably the next best thing. The story is perfectly suited to the theatre. It’s big, bold, dramatic, emotional and full of highs and lows. The score is full of showstoppers, showcasing the best of 80s rock and pop in arrangements that make them feel fresh and original. With 10% of ticket money going to the Band Aid Trust, Just For One Day has already raised £1million. As if that wasn’t enough of an incentive to book, the fact that it’s one of the most exciting and enjoyable nights out in the West End should ensure it’s a huge success.
Just For One Day is on at the Shaftesbury Theatre, currently booking to 10th January 2026. Find out more and book here.
Read our feature about the launch event for Just for One Day’s West End run here.
★★★★★
