Review by Amelia
Ticket was gifted in return for an honest review
The Last Five Years is a two-character musical by the legendary Jason Robert Brown, told with an unconventional timeline where one story is chronological and the other is in reverse. We meet rising novelist, Jamie Wellerstein, and striving actress, Cathy Hiatt, as they navigate a five-year relationship, with Jamie’s story being told from when he met Cathy, and Cathy’s starting from the separation, going back to their first meeting. If it sounds a bit confusing, it is, but once you get your head around it, it becomes easy to follow. The score helps with this immensely, guiding the audience through different times in their lives and making it easy to identify at which point they both are. In the original piece, the only time Jamie and Cathy interact is at their wedding, which is the mid-point of the relationship, but this new production uses clever techniques to allow them to have a bit more interaction, without altering the integrity of the piece. The musical premiered in Chicago in 2001, and then Off-Broadway in 2002, and was met with acclaim for Brown’s innovation. Subsequent Broadway and West End productions followed, with this new production, directed by Hal Chambers, premiering at the Reading Rep Theatre, as a co-production with The Barn Theatre and Theatre Royal Bath, marking Reading Rep’s first musical theatre production.
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| Martha Kirby and the Band. Photo by Alex Tabrizi |
With such an emotionally rich score, it takes the whole creative team and cast to ensure that it soars in the way it’s intended to. Martha Kirby and Guy Woolf star in this production as Cathy and Jamie respectively and are able to bring the story to life in the best way possible. The key themes of love, communication, loss and ambition are penned in such a way that the story just keeps getting more and more heartbreaking. Kirby’s rendition of ‘Still Hurting’ that opens the show, is every part tragic as it is vocally phenomenal, cementing her career-defining performance from the minute the piece starts. The audience gets to see the impact of the relationship on her immediately, making the contrast of joy that Jamie feels getting ready to meet her, all the more gut-wrenching. The emotional distance often comes from how they fail to connect at crucial moments, again highlighted in the likes of ‘See I’m Smiling’.
Woolf’s Jamie is excitable and giddy at the beginning, his infatuation with Cathy driven by love and appreciation, which juxtaposes his slow breakdown throughout, resulting in him becoming a poor version of himself. It’s easy to dislike the character, especially when he becomes egotistical and arrogant due to his book’s success, but Woolf plays it with sincerity, so we still feel for him even when he makes the worst decisions. His ‘I Can Do Better Than That’ is a reflection of frustration and guilt, that manifests in him trying to find someone else to fill the void. Woolf gives a wonderful performance in this role, with great chemistry with not just Kirby, but the musicians on stage as well.
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| Martha Kirby and Guy Woolf. Photo by Alex Tabrizi |
The staging is very clever here, with the set and lighting helping to orient the audience in time when switching between Jamie and Cathy's arcs. The visual storytelling for a show like this is so important, and there were so many subtle moments that audiences must try to look out for. The onstage musicians are a brilliant touch, interacting with the actors (particularly Jamie), which expands the world beyond the two central characters. Despite this, the production retains an intimate, close-up quality that makes its emotional climax all the more powerful. The show is uniquely conceived, placing immense responsibility on its two performers to carry the entire narrative. In this production, both rise to the challenge with remarkable performances that illuminate and drive the piece’s key themes from start to finish.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Last Five Years at the Reading Rep theatre plays until October 12th 2025. Tickets are available from https://www.readingrep.com/whats-on/the-last-five-years/
The production then plays at The Barn Theatre in Cirencester from 17th October - 15th November 2025. Tickets are available from https://barntheatre.org.uk/the-last-five-years
Finally it will run at The Ustinov Studio in Bath from 25th November until 3rd January 2026. Tickets are available from https://www.theatreroyal.org.uk/events/the-last-five-years/
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| Martha Kirby, Guy Woolf and The Band. Photo by Alex Tabrizi. |
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