Monstering the Rocketman at Arcola Theatre Review
Written by Bronagh for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Content warnings: strong language, reference to sexual acts, references to suicide or self harm, references to mental illness.
The Sun newspaper. Doesn’t have particularly positive connotations, does it? Scandal after scandal, fake news story after fake news story. Nobody knows this better than the Rocketman himself – Elton John. In the 1980s John sued the red top for a reported £1,000,000 after they published completely untrue stories about his private life, including the use of rent boys and sordid sexual kinks. Monstering the Rocketman, written and performed by Henry Naylor, covers this bizarre period in British news history.
Naylor’s performance throughout is largely entertaining, as he bounces between young reporter ‘Lynx’, Sun editor Kelvin Mackenzie and, of course, Elton John. The performance is energetic and humorous, and had me shivering at the thought of Mackenzie being my boss. Lynx was particularly enjoyable, as a young journalist willing to do anything to succeed, whether it’s stealing car keys or booking out the Concorde to stalk John across the Atlantic. There were instances of Naylor noticeably tripping up on some lines, and during one of these occurrences, he did break the fourth wall to tell the audience he wished he had never written that line. This did give a slightly ‘under rehearsed’ vibe, which was a shame as I do not doubt that Naylor is a highly capable performer.
Don’t go into Monstering the Rocketman expecting ‘the Elton John story’, Elton John puns or, dare I say it, a jukebox musical. The man himself is more in the shadows throughout, a supporting character. We all know the flamboyant and wildly dressed Elton John of the 80s, whether we were alive at the time or not. I do feel there was a missed opportunity here to differentiate between John and the other characters, whether this was an over-the-top pair of glasses or even the quick use of a wig. Elton John’s fashion sense aside, this is a show about the press, the sordid headlines, and the blatant homophobia that The Sun got away with. The dirty newspaper ink analogy symbolises the words printed.
Monstering the Rocketman uses, and at times, relies on projections of front pages projected on either side of the theatre showing these remarkable headlines – ‘Rear-Enders’, ‘Zip Me Up Before You Go Go’ and, how could we forget, ‘Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster’. Whilst some of these did get titters of laughter from the audience, the homophobic headlines and articles received a startled silence. The idea of projections is great, however, perhaps wasn’t suited to the space in the Arcola. I found myself struggling to see both projections, with one of them more or less cut off to me.
Despite this being the second staging of this production, the first being Edinburgh Fringe, I do feel it could benefit from some tightening to come across as slicker. The messaging could be stronger, and there was a real opportunity to draw clearer parallels between the 1980s and the 2020s. With misinformation now more prevalent than ever, fuelled by platforms like X and the rise of AI, these lessons feel barely learntI have no doubt that Monstering the Rocketman has potential and could be a brilliant production. With a few tweaks, some tightening, the bitch well and truly will be back.
At the Arcola Theatre until 21st February 2026
★★★
