Lord of the Rings

This show has now closed, click here for a listing of current and future London shows

Opened 9 May 2007, closed 19 July 2008 at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane Theatre in London

Stage version of JRR Tolkien's trilogy Lord of the Rings.

Lord of the Rings is comes London following its World Premiere at The Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto, Canada in March 2006.

"This show is a wonder go with an open heart, wide-open eyes and prepare for enchantment"
The Times

The stage version of Lord of the Rings is adapted and written by Shaun McKenna and Matthew Warchus and features a score by India's most popular composer A.R. Rahman and the renowned Finnish group Värttinä, collaborating with Christopher Nightingale. It is directed by Matthew Warchus with designs by Rob Howell and choreography by Peter Darling. The producer of The Lord of the Rings stage musical, Kevin Wallace, said: "It pushes the boundaries of what people expect to see in a theatre. It does have a wow factor and it has gone down amazingly in Canada... it's a hybrid, a musical play performed on an operatic scale with a lot of physical theatre."

"A hugely impressive production" The Guardian

"It isn't all the fault of the adaptors. JRR Tolkien is also to blame. His Middle Earth, middle England myth - a mixture of Wagnerian grandiosity and boy-scout bonding - is not, after all, really human. Matthew Warchus's production of The Lord of the Rings - big on technical effort, small in emotional and intellectual impact - is a string of set-pieces jigging to the tune of a cash register. At £12.5m, this is the most expensive musical ever staged in this country, and its hardware statistics - 150 weapons, 500 pieces of armour, and 17 hydraulic lifts - have been treated, with some accuracy, as if they were stars of the show." The Observer (London June 2007)

"A powerful piece of popular storytelling, that makes for a totally involving theatrical experience. Amazing!" The Sunday Express

"There is an obvious problem with compressing such a huge story into three hours. Tolkien said, with teasing, donnish humour, that the only fault with The Lord of the Rings was that it wasn't nearly long enough. Whether true of the book or not, it is certainly true of the stage version. There is no time for character development or emotion. When Frodo says, 'I will go - though I do not know the way', it should wring the heart. Here, you barely notice it. Special effects weigh in instead, as in an expensive popcorn movie - and the human touch is lost." The Sunday Times (London June 2007)

"The characters are paper-thin: the hobbits have rosy cheeks and big bottoms; the wizards, Gandalf and Saruman, have long dreadlocks and longer robes; the ents are as tall as trees... Set designer Rob Howell's shifting levels of the stage keeps the landscape ever-changing; Paul Pyant does astonishing things with lights. But there's no drama, just bafflement and boredom punctuated by moments of admittedly awesome spectacle and some quite special special effects, though nothing one hasn't seen before." The Mail on Sunday (London June 2007

The Lord of the Rings finishes its run at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London on 19 July 2008 after 492 performances having played to an audience of over 700,000. Producer Kevin Wallace said: "The show's creative team has proven just how enchanting, exhilarating and powerfully entertaining The Lord of the Rings can be live on stage. We will continue to bring this incredible theatrical event to audiences in London until 19 July 2008, and we look forward to presenting the show to new audiences abroad from 2009." Discussions are currently under way for the production to re-open in Germany in November 2009 with a German-speaking cast. In addition the Lords of the Rings creative team are also developing a touring version to launch in New Zealand in 2009 before being presented in cities across Australia and the Far East.

"The parade of images in Matthew Warchus's production of The Lord of the Rings at The Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto is ceaseless and astonishing. The Black Riders are truly terrifying... The Ents, on stilts and held up by wires, do a superb job of looking like trees. The stage itself is a spectacle, constantly moving up, down and around, splitting apart and coming together again... This show, reputedly the most expensive ever, has spent its millions wisely. Practically too, as devices work strictly to serve the story... In this show the human element fights hard and sometimes wins, but the mechanical element, which is after all a human invention, is wonderful." The Guardian (Canadian Premiere - 2006)

"On the whole, it works, without resorting to the slick but soulless spectacle of Cirque du Soleil, or declining into Gothic cliche... The stage version's great strength lies in the way its constituent parts combine in an organic whole... Rob Howell's designs, exquisitely lit by Paul Pyant, are achieved with uncluttered economy rather than hi-tech wizardry... Visually, the show's rough-theatre aesthetic is put to dazzlingly inventive use... With some fine tuning, this tale could hold its audience in total thrall. For now, its best moments are, like the ring, an intoxicating enchantment." The Times (Canadian Premiere - 2006)