Charley's Aunt - Watermill Theatre REVIEW

The Watermill Theatre’s bold new take on Charley’s Aunt dusts off Brandon Thomas’s classic farce and gives it a gloriously modern, unapologetically queer makeover. Cleverly adapted with input from Rob Madge (My Son’s A Queer, Cabaret), this production honours the bones of the original while injecting it with fresh humour, sharp dialogue and a contemporary lens on gender and identity.

The story centres on two Oxford students who are desperate to declare their feelings to the women they love but require a suitable chaperone. Salvation seems to arrive in the form of Charley’s wealthy aunt from Brazil “where the nuts come from!”... except she’s delayed. In classic farcical style, a friend is roped into impersonating her, donning a dress and causing a cascade of mistaken identities, declarations of love, and escalating chaos. What begins as a simple disguise spirals into a tangle of affections, as characters fall for personas rather than people, allowing the theme of identity, both assumed and authentic, to take centre stage.

This adaptation shines in its willingness to embrace modern sensibilities. Rather than mocking femininity or using cross-dressing purely for laughs, the character of Babs is transformed from a gimmick into a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of identity and gender fluidity. The production leans into this queer energy with gleeful abandon, turning the farce into something both chaotic and curiously heartfelt.

While the final scenes veer slightly into heavy-handed moral messaging, the journey getting there is packed with wit and vibrant character work. The dialogue crackles—sharp, sparkly, and peppered with modern jokes that feel surprisingly at home in the Victorian setting.

The cast is uniformly charming, though Max Gill’s performance occasionally feels a touch forced amidst the otherwise effortlessly playful ensemble. Nevertheless, the collective chemistry sells the farce with gusto.

It’s a joy to see a lesser-performed classic revived with such flair and affection. Unashamedly queer, delightfully chaotic, and undeniably entertaining, this Charley’s Aunt proves that even the dustiest of plays can gleam with the right touch of modern glitter.