‘The Boy in the Dress’ scores a triple-threat hat-trick on press night

There’s a satisfying poetic justice to a musical about blurring the gender binary opening at a theatre dedicated to William Shakespeare. Cross-dressing was a fact of life on the Elizabethan stage, and this show is undoubtedly the latest diversity effort by the Royal Shakespeare Company working in a theatrical tradition that has long been about the cisgender, heterosexual male.

The story, adapted from David Walliams’ bestselling book, is heart-warming: Dennis is a twelve year old boy, the star striker of his school’s football team, until one day he turns up to school in a dress and his life changes forever. Despite the vilification this brings, Dennis remains true to himself as his friends, family and the audience learn to accept him for who he is – after all, what’s wrong with a boy in a dress?

The RSC have found a true star in Toby Mocrei as the titular Dennis. The young actor displays a level of stagecraft well beyond his years. His vocals are the best on stage without a doubt and he throws himself into the dancing, whilst making it all look effortless. But beyond this, his flawless delivery and comic timing demonstrates a real understanding of his audience that would be the envy of any adult actor. 

Their wit and musicality beams through this performance, it’s impossible not to smile with them

The children of this show really make it the success it is. Obviously the roles are rotated between several other actors, but Ethan Dattani (as Dharvesh), Tabitha Knowles (as Lisa), and Alfie Jukes (as John) had the press in the palm of their hands in this performance. Their wit and musicality beams through this performance, it’s impossible not to smile with them.

The adults of the show are left to try and keep up, and they almost manage it. Irvine Iqbal gets a number of laughs as Raj, the happy-go-lucky shopkeeper, and Natasha Lewis serves comic energy with impressive vocals as Dharvesh’s mum. Special mention must go to Forbes Masson for an excellently choleric performance as the conflicted headmaster, Mr Hawtrey, and Alexander Moneypenny does a great job of a small role, as Gareth the football team captain. But the night belongs to the young actors of the show who really lift the performance to another level.

Gregory Doran has put together a very slick production, which leaves almost nothing to chance. Robert Jones’ design is surely aiming for a run on the West End with its ambitious props and set pieces. The houses that make up Dennis’ neighbourhood go through multiple transformations throughout the show, it’s a wonder to see how many props they contain! The ambitious staging is matched perfectly by Aletta Collins’ complex choreography. Staging two football matches on what is (by the RSC’s standards) a small stage on no mean feat and yet it’s done with astonishing precision.

This show is an inspiring, uplifting and timely rejection of gender binary, and hopefully one that will stick around for years to come

For a feel-good show, there were a couple of moments that felt a bit contrived. Lisa’s assertion, mid-way through Act 2, that “everyone should be able to wear whatever they want,” feels blindingly obvious by that point. If that hasn’t been the take-home message from the show so far, I don’t know what was. The line isn’t aided by the fact that it’s spoken by the popular girl admired for being pretty, arguably the character who represents the least diversity in the whole show. 

There’s also a gratuitous dance number when Dennis first puts on a dress that’s just far too prolonged and seems to tell us all to just “dance dance dance,” to deflect from any ongoing issues in our lives. The show is unapologetic, however, and by this point the audience are all so on board that it’s an easy crowd-pleaser: cue the standing ovation.

Any minor problems are very easily overlooked, however. This show is an inspiring, uplifting and timely rejection of gender binary, and hopefully one that will stick around for years to come. The RSC’s first musical since Matilda shoots and scores.

The Boy in the Dress is at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre until 8 March. Tickets are available here.