Writer: Justine Malone
Directors: Ezra Dobson, Emma Webb and Alex Coke
While it’s not exactly a prerequisite to know anything of the first two Terminator films or indeed have any nostalgia for Windows 95 to enjoy Justine Malone’s one-woman show, I’ll Be Back works best for an older generation brought up in the last decade of the 1990s. With inspired references to Microsoft’s Clippy, a less insidious AI assistant than the likes of the current Grok, Malloy’s comical sci-fi tale is finely crafted and excellently performed.
It begins some years after Judgement Day, the calamitous event in 1997 when machines nearly wiped out the human race. Malone’s character works for Cyberdyne Systems in a museum dedicated to the memory of John Connor, who, in the films, fought against the machines created by Cyberdyne. She lost her family in the nuclear war triggered by Judgement Day, but just days before that, her brother Mal went missing. Could she use Cyberdyne’s technology and return to 1997 to find him?
With a cast of larger-than-life characters, Malone’s story – which on paper sounds like a complicated one – is easy to follow, and there are some wonderful moments of comedy as her hero takes on the mantle once worn so fittingly by Arnold Schwarzenegger. His robot went to LA, but Malone returns to Dudley in the West Midlands to prevent the apocalypse, and if you have memories of the old shopping centre there, the jokes about the monorail may hit harder.
Some nicely choreographed movement recalls the good old days of vintage arcade games, while the clever sound and light designs bring the narrative alive. Malone can bring a laugh from a raised eyebrow or a gentle nod, all delivered with perfect timing: she doesn’t miss a beat.
The whole package is extremely polished, right down to its affecting conclusion. Undoubtedly, Justine Malone will be back with a bigger gun.
Runs until 19 January 2026 and continues to tour
