Dear Evan Hansen review ★★★★☆ by Ifan Llewelyn
Being in high school is hard. Just pick out any one of the thousands of movies and series set in high schools and you’ll see. Whether it’s Kurt’s queer-bashing in Ryan Murphy’s Glee or Molly Ringwald’s severe unpopularity in Pretty in Pink, high school life seems to be not one you’d wish on your worst enemy. It’s clear that the first day back in this hellish locker-clad landscape is not going to be easy for socially awkward and insecure Evan Hansen. His arm is in a cast, his trousers are baggy and he can’t stop the thoughts racing through his head and the sweat gathering in his clammy palms. Que the ‘getting ready in the morning’ opening number of Dear Evan Hansen.
In a bid to build up his self-confidence, Hansen’s therapist has prescribed him to write himself a letter each morning. “Dear Evan Hansen, today is going to be a good day. Here’s why.” It’s clear that his mother is doing her best, but something just isn’t working. Lost in the thrashing tide of his first day back, Hansen breaks out into the show’s stand-out number “Waving Through a Number”. He’s resolute that he’s to stay out of the light, step out of the sun, but is struggling with feeling invisible. “Can anybody see? Is anybody waving back at me?” With only a family friend to pester, who makes sure to remind them that they’re ONLY family friends, it looks like it’s set to be a lonely year for Evan Hansen. That is before school stoner Connor dies by suicide, but not before stealing one of Evan’s letters and signing his cast. With Connor’s family convinced of him and Connor having a secret friendship, thing soon gets very out of Evan’s sweaty hands.
Capturing the agonies of adolescence, this show is one that’s undeniably relatable. From crushing on a person who barely knows you exist, to the strained relationship with your parents, being a teenager anywhere isn’t easy. As Evan starts inventing a secret friendship with Connor to give some comfort to his grieving family, it’s easy to see how he could get carried away. Loneliness is an epidemic of the age of social media, and this musical maps its symptoms.
Though many musicals have grappled with the introduction of social media into their narratives, Dear Evan Hansen introduces enough of it to feel natural. When Evan’s rousing “You Will Be Found” speech goes viral, it heightens the stakes in a very real way, with strangers latching themselves on to Connors (made up) story. The production is also successful in presenting a high school experience without relying on over-done tropes like cheerleaders, jocks or prom. It didn’t fall into the camp pitfalls that plagued the Mean Girls musical, or that made the Heathers musical a sickly camp-fest.
Leave your cynicism at the door for this production, because it’s unavoidably American, from Benji Pasek’s liberal use of the acoustic guitar to Steven Levenson’s emphatic dialogue. Stepping into the role that made The Politician’s Ben Platt a household name, straight out of drama school Sam Tutty is nigglingly magnificent. At just 21, landing the biggest male role to hit the West End in a while, he brings his own brand of nervous energy to the role. If you’re looking for a blockbuster evening seeing a topical Broadway heavyweight, the six-time Tony-winning Dear Evan Hansenis a safe bet.
Dear Evan Hansen is running at the Noël Coward theatre until 2 May.
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