Synopsis

Evan Hansen is an anxious, isolated high-school student who’s aching for understanding and belonging amid the chaos and cruelty of the social media age. He soon embarks on a journey of self-discovery when a letter he wrote for a writing exercise falls into the hands of a grieving couple whose son Connor took his own life. He pretends to be friends with Connor to comfort his parents, but his lie ends up spiralling out of control.

All photos by Marc Brenner.

Review

There are a lot of high street musicals featuring teenage angst, bullying and suicide, perhaps to help younger audience members feel less alone. Fewer consider the effect this has on the parents of the students.

What sets Dear Evan Hansen apart from the likes of Heathers and Mean Girls is that it looks at the families affected by these situation; in fact DEH opens with the two mothers (Alice Fearn and understudy Jessica Lim) singing Does Anybody Have a Map? as they accept how difficult it is to understand what their teenagers are feeling, wanting to say and do the right thing, but not knowing what it is.

At its heart DEH is a musical about belonging, grief and mental health, but at times it manages to be uplifting, in part due to the songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul which range from the poignant For Forever and Requiem, to the more upbeat, thought-provoking You Will Be Found. The show also looks at the power of social media and how quickly a lie can spiral out of control. Yet the writers manage to include enough humour – especially in the song Sincerely, Me – to prevent the musical being too depressing. That said, it does feel a little unbalanced, with most of the – in my opinion – better songs in Act I, which is a shame.

The touring production works well, with very little lost in terms of impact from scenery, particularly the final scene with Zoe (Lauren Conroy) and Evan (Ryan Kopel), which really tugs on the heartstrings. There is enough awkward chemistry between Conroy and Kopel to make it cute and credible, and the scenes between Fearn and Kopel are touching and relatable. It is quite hard to like any of the characters, as their actions are fairly questionable, but this is part of the writers’ message that we are all flawed and broken in some way, and that’s OK.

Although not perfect by any means, overall it’s a good show with a fairly strong cast and it’s well worth seeing. Ultimately, Dear Evan Hansen is one of those musicals that continues to resonate with audiences and help people feel less alone.

As an extra note, well done to the team for their response to a medical emergency during Act I which was handled calmly and professionally.

Thanks to the Royal & Derngate team for my press tickets. Opinions my own.