Theatre Review: Dear Evan Hanson at The Bristol Hippodrome

Photography by Marc Brenner

Summary

Rating: ★★★★
Running Dates: Tuesday 11th February - Saturday 15th February 2025
Where to see it: Bristol Hippodrome
Duration: 2 hr 40 min (incl. interval)
Keywords: Social Anxiety, Suicide References, Grief, Hope, Heartfelt

Review

Even the most hard hearted would find it difficult to not be penetrated with the ultimate message of the show.

Dear Evan Hanson - the love child of songwriting duo Benj Pasek & Justin Paul is back on a UK tour after first premiering on Broadway in 2016, followed by the West End tour in 2019 where it continued for three years and gaining numerous accolades including Best New Musical. Inspired by a real life tragedy from Pasek’s teenage years - Dear Evan Hanson was created to showcase flawed characters that make bad decisions but noting that doesn’t necessarily make them a bad person. The themes depicted honestly like grief, suicide and social anxiety have garnered this show an active audience of followers, and rightly so - it handles difficult topics with empathy and relatability.

This UK tour centres around Ryan Kopel, as our adorably naive Evan Hanson overwhelmed with social anxiety and equally struggling teen Connor Murphy played by Killian Thomas Lefevre. Connor snatches Evan’s letter to himself and it is found in Connor’s possession when he sadly dies by suicide at the beginning of the show. What follows is a tangled web of lies and characters making interesting decisions whilst they all are struggling with their own personal battles.

Photography by Marc Brenner

What this show does really well is highlight some really difficult topics in a very human way and features some really strong musical numbers. Highlights include ‘You will be Found’ - the staging effectively portrayed the feeling of being alone (by literally being alone on stage) to a huge crescendo of people and uplift in the music. The use of social media at this point was also very effective - it was very powerful to see others sharing the important message - with more and more being added towards the crescendo point. Even the most hard hearted would find that difficult to not be penetrated with the ultimate message of the show.

Much needed comedy was provided by ‘family friend’ Jared (played by Tom Dickerson) - and Sincerely Me is an epic masterclass from Lefevre & Dickerson of providing that comic relief in an otherwise heavy show. I was pleasantly surprised by Requiem in that it effectively showcased different ways to grieve and that is an important message for young adults to see - there is no right way to grieve.

However, I did feel that the second half of the show was not as impactful as the first as we saw the effect of Evan’s lies (even though from a good place) - but its testament to Kopel that we still had empathy for the character despite several moments where I found myself conflicted with the characters decisions.

Overall, this is an incredibly important piece of the theatre for young adults to watch - I think it handles sensitive topics like male suicide with ease. It was very much an imperfect perfect depiction of flawed, messy characters - just like there is in real life. Ultimately, I can fully understand how this show hits people in the feels - fully backed by the amount of sniffles from fellow audience members during poignant moments - and every emotion in the spectrum is shown.

This should definitely be on your watch list - but be ready to feel conflicted and uplifted at the same!

See If: You want to see flawed characters sharing important messages in a very appetising format
Last Impressions: A really important piece of theatre for all young adults to consume and take to heart

You can find last minute tickets for the show on the ATG website.

We were kindly gifted these tickets in exchange for a review.

Written by Steph Clarke