It is fair to say I have never seen a Fringe show have a room fill up so quickly in such a large venue. Produced by Captivate Theatre, this Fringe premiere of Dear Evan Hansen is one to truly spectate. This is not only due to its strong musical performers, but also the unique beauty in the use of a live band hidden behind the curtains.
If you have not heard about the award-winning, contemporary musical Dear Evan Hansen before, I have to assume you’ve been living under a rock. Audiences follow the emotional tale of anxious teenager Evan Hansen, who has to deal with his small lie regarding classmate Connor Murphy spiraling into something bigger than he can handle.
This Fringe 2026 edition was led with its main cast, consisting of Shlok Ramakrishnan (Evan), Shaun Newson (Connor), Sophie Gee (Zoe), and Seamus Cross (Jared).
As a (secret) theatre kid myself, I tried not to have my high expectations blind me from the performance being achieved by a community-driven theatre company, but ultimately, it was difficult not to. At some parts, the performers were either too slow or fast for the live band, and whilst the live band held beautiful musicality, their instruments seemed to drown out the singing of the stage actors.
Nevertheless, the live vocals of the cast were extraordinary, with their vocal belting skills being out of this world. Main musical numbers to highlight include Ramakrishnan’s heartfelt performance of ‘For Forever,’ Gee’s passionate ‘Requiem,’ and the cast’s harmonic ‘You Will Be Found’ – all of these having made me teary-eyed at the end of each song.
I appreciated the simplicity in the stage design in order for the audience’s main attention to be set on the characters and the heart-wrenching storyline, however, the overall lighting for the show could be improved. This necessary improvement felt most apparent during the renowned ‘Sincerely, Me’ track number, with the light switching between Connor to Evan potentially being sharper to have more comedic effect.
While the whole performance could be tightened up, by the end of Captivate Theatre’s Dear Evan Hansen, the production will ensure that everyone leaves a little bit more hopeful that “you
will be found!”
Dear Evan Hansen is running until 17 August at Ballroom at Assembly Rooms. Buy tickets here.
Image provided by Malik Tajamul for press use.
