Rowling In It, The King's Head Theatre, Upper Street, Islington, London N1 | until 18 April 2026 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell.

Photo credit: Lucy Hayes

Rowling In It

The King's Head Theatre, Upper Street, Islington, London N1 | until 18 April 2026

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell.

“A tour de force monologue indeed.”

A tour de force performance by Laura K Bailey in this hour-long monologue is one reason for going to see the show, which is about her experience at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe when she appeared in Terf C-unt playing J K Rowling having a discussion with Daniel Radcliffe and. It caused quite a stir at the time, partly because of the topics raised, and also because Rowling, who has some controversial views to say the least, especially about trans people, wrote her first Harry Potter book there, the rest being history. But the experience certainly marked the cast especially Bailey who played Rowling. Here she plays herself. Without the background, however, the evening can be quite hard to follow as Bailey takes one through the various stages of the production. She had some slight problems with the King's Head acoustics the night I saw it from the back row, but clearly those who caught her loud and clear got it so that was my problem. It is funny, irreverent and she makes full use of the stage even doing a handstand at one point or perhaps it was a back flip as she resurrects in a series of scenes what it was like The WhatsApp discussions projected behind her at various points are hilarious because they are quite simply true to life, the problems of Generation Z are all there. Monologues can be tricky, can defeat some performers.  but Bailey wins out and has been sympathetically directed by Dominic Shaw. That said it would have been even better had one seen that fringe show. But it remains a monologue to remember.

Cast

Laura K Bailey

Creatives

Director – Dominic Shaw

Lighting Design – Nina Morgan

Sound Design – Mark Fenton