Thelma and Louise at the Young Vic Review
Amy Lennox (Thelma) and Rachel Tucker (Louise). Photo: Helen Murray
It’s over thirty years since the film Thelma and Louise was released. Hollywood stars Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon played the titular girlfriends whose weekend away turns into a dramatic road trip. It also had a breakthrough role for the young Brad Pitt and has become an iconic piece of cinema history, with six Oscar nominations, winning for Best Screenplay. Writer Callie Khouri has now adapted her story into a musical, led by our own West End stars Amy Lennox and Rachel Tucker, with Jordan Luke Gage taking on the role of hitchhiking drifter, JD.
Designed by award-winning scenographers Christine Jones and Brett J. Banakis, the auditorium has been configured so that the audience faces a wide, open stage – designed to look like a motel/bar. There are a few neon advertising signs alongside the standard metal signage with guest information. It could be any truck stop anywhere in the US and any time over the last few decades. A pool table has a few purposes – taking us from the bar to the parking lot to a motel room. The lighting (Natasha Chivers) and sound (Gareth Owen) helps to draw us into this world – with bright headlights flashing or a neon line running across the back of the set to give us the sense of the road trip without having to resort to projections or physical reproductions of some of the movie’s iconic scenes. It’s very effective staging.
Khouri’s book stays pretty faithful to her original film, the key players all recognisable although supporting characters are fairly one dimensional – this is about Thelma and Louise so, although they are all very well played, there’s a very little back story and development for controlling husband Darryl (Samuel Edwards) and laid back boyfriend Jimmy (Alex Gibson Giorgio). The dedicated cop and family man Hal, played with a great sense of calm and some smooth vocals by Trevor Dion Nicholas, is a role that was crying out for a sub-plot to dig a little deeper into the racism he would face every day in his career and his struggle to balance work and family life, but apart from a strong scene with his wife Sarah (Letitia Hector), we only scratch the surface. We learn a little more about JD – his short-lived influence over Thelma changing the trajectory of the road trip, with a scene between the two that is a comedy and vocal highlight. It’s not too far removed from some of the other roles that Jordan Luke Gage has played, but he fully commits to the charming chancer with great presence and charisma, once again managing to make a bad boy likeable.
The score, from celebrated singer/songwriter Neko Case, does not feel like a typical musical – it doesn’t have huge ensemble numbers, power ballads or soaring duets between star-crossed lovers. The music feels much more like the characters sharing their inner monologues, it’s storytelling and mostly more insular than a big performance. This does mean there’s a bit of a lack of hummable tunes, with early number For a Change a notable exception. It’s an absolute earworm of a musical theatre “I want” song, brilliantly setting up Thelma and Louise’s epic adventure and desire to take back control of their lives from the men, in whose shadows they’ve been for far too long. Moments when the two are expressing their empowerment and freedom are given an additional status with Thelma and Louise singing straight out front into vintage style microphones – becoming the rock stars we know they are deep inside. It takes us away from their mundane lives and makes their adventure entirely believable.
As Thelma and Louise, Amy Lennox and Rachel Tucker are perfectly cast. They have fantastic chemistry, their powerhouse vocals blend to perfection and there’s an easy closeness between them that speaks of years of friendship. Any tension between the two is both heightened because of this bond and also forgiven. As their personal stories are revealed, shifts in both the power dynamic and a deeper understanding between the two are beautifully played. There’s plenty of humour along the way – Lennox shines in a brilliantly staged “swimming pool” scene - as well as heartbreak and trauma, all played very naturally and making every word and emotion hit home.
Trip Cullman’s direction effectively brings the big screen to the stage, it feels very natural with the characters of Thelma and Louise fully rounded and sympathetic. There’s well balanced humour and drama, building to a (no spoilers) conclusion that is powerful in its staging and impact. The foot stomping choreography from Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber makes great use of the ensemble cast to transport us to the Southern American states, making the stillness from the actors in songs that share their inner feelings a marked and effective contrast.
On its release, the 1991 film had some backlash from critics, being perceived as “anti male”. Watching it on stage with a modern eye, it feels evenly balanced. There are some terrible men in the story but it never comes across as a biased rant – we have sympathetic male characters to offset the wrong’uns. It’s also a sign of how society has progressed – we don’t expect our female characters to be passive damsels in distress any more, Thelma and Louise are not shocking in their boldness and independence.
Whilst this is perhaps not a traditional musical, it’s a faithful and well structured adaptation of a much loved modern classic film, with music that doesn’t overwhelm or distract from its original story. At its heart, it’s a story of female empowerment centred around an unbreakable bond between two ordinary women who shake off the “good girl” personas expected by society in favour of taking control of their lives and destinies. It’s funny, emotional, uplifting and defiant – with two phenomenal performances from its brilliant Thelma and Louise.
Thelma and Louise is at the Young Vic until Saturday 24th October 2026.
★★★★
Written by Penny for Theatre and Tonic, September 2026.
