Review: A Knight's Tale: The Musical, at the Manchester Opera House

Sorry not sorry for the gap in between seeing this show and getting the chance to talk about it. The peak of wedding season and my birthday weekend away have come into the gap. But I've now also had a little time to reflect on it, especially that the run in Manchester has now ended. And I wanted to share what was likely one of the biggest theatrical events in the Manchester calendar. 

2025 housed the world premiere of A Knight's Tale: The Musical

This is based on the 2001 film starring Heath Ledger, about a peasant dreaming of being a knight. His chance then comes, disguising himself as Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstien (apparently sharing the name with a real life medieval knight and poet), and along with his friends, they aim to get to the top and beat the reigning champion all without being caught (and arrested!). And hopefully, William can win the heart of the Princess Jocelyn along the way. 

It's a simple story, with a hero you can get behind, a villain you can boo at, a beautiful and sassy princess, and songs that you know. By the sounds of it, you may be thinking it's very panto-esque... Which I guess is true, especially as Brona C Titley's script shows nods to British comedy, gags and puns galore, along with a lot of fourth wall breaking from the character of Chaucer. However, it is a jukebox musical similar to that of & Juliet (to name another big musical that had a Manchester Opera House premiere). 

Unlike & Juliet however, which all is from one composer, the song choices in A Knight's Tale are a lot more random, 

In fact, there seems to be no link to them at all. That's not a bad thing however, as the majority of them do make sense in the story. We Will Rock You for one example was an easy choice, as it plays in the trailer to the original film. But other choices include David Bowie, The Killers, Bonnie Tyler, Chumbawamba and S Club 7 (I was very excited when I heard that choice I must admit). Some of them work, but some of them are, I admit, a bit of a tenuous link to what is going on at best. 

The main thing however, is the how they did it rather than the content itself, and the songs are not only performed amazingly by the cast, but all performed as a spectacle in one way or another; the songs being performed to training, jousting or travelling montages are perfect examples. The staging can make you go wow. 

This musical is a spectacle - and yes, you get jousting on stage!

The secret, according to rehearsal footage is that the jousting actors wear stilts similar to running blades Paralympians wear, which are then disguised by the horse "costume" so to speak. Hard to explain without seeing it, but it's pretty creative and looks amazing on stage. 

Speaking of creativity, I also want to mention the costumes. They're perfect for this kind of campy medieval setting they're creating, full of leather and metal. It shouldn't have been such a surprise to me that they're designed by two-time Olivier winner Gabriella Slade - as if we need any more proof that she's an amazing designer. 

You can also tell, that this cast is having a ball

This ensemble works so hard, really dancing every single number, and like I said, you can tell they're relishing in every joke and cheesy number. It has been a long time since I have seen the film, but I can tell you that the characters and performances have definitely been camped up a little bit for the musical version. The best comparison I can give you is Oliver Tompsett's Count Adhemar being given a very similar treatment to Jafar in Aladdin's musical adaptation, and that he has become a lot more "panto villain-esque" than he was in the film. 

It does work however for this route they have taken. There's fun, there's campiness, there's queer representation - it works. 

I will say the one I could not take my eyes off was Emily Benjamin, who played Kate, the female blacksmith (go on girl!) in William's band of misfits. The vocals on that girl were off the chart. Coincidence that the opening to Act 2 was Chaka Khan's I'm Every Woman, surrounded by other dancer blacksmiths and fire shooting up from the bottom of the stage? I think not. 

There is rumours going around of A Knight's Tale transferring to the West End

I definitely hope it has a future life beyond Manchester, however, there is quite a queue to get into the West End right now. It highly depends on what theatre(s) are available. If I were a producer, I would see about putting A Knight's Tale on tour instead. This is an audience pleaser, and the more demand A Knight's Tale can get from audiences around the country, the more appealing it would be for West End producers to offer it a slot in its home town of London.