Next to Normal – Wyndhams Theatre, London

Book and Lyrics: Brian Yorkey

Music: Tom Kitt

Director: Michael Longhurst

There has been plenty of new work about mental health in the last 10 years but little of it compares to Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt’s Next to Normal which transfers to the Wyndhams Theatre following its UK premiere at the Donmar Warehouse last year. An almost immersive experience that continually surprises the audience with plot developments and trajectories that cannot be spoiled, mixing rock, traditional stage styles and a touch of contemporary country, Next to Normal is no ordinary theatrical experience.

A nuclear family comes apart when Diana decides to stop taking a variety of medications and allow her bipolar disorder to overtake her. With a teenage daughter who feels neglected and seeking comfort outside the home, and a husband clinging on to their relationship hoping for better times, Diana’s escalating despair dominates all their lives.

It is almost impossible to describe the impact that Yorkey and Kitt’s show has on first-time viewers and it would be irresponsible to explain any of the important storylines that hold the audience in thrall for 2.5 hours and provide its significant emotional impact. What Next to Normal does so astonishingly is to get inside the experience of a chronic mental health condition through Diana’s perspective but give equal stage time to the effect of her decision-making on the rest of her family as they collectively endure the different approaches to treatment, therapy and the cyclical nature of a process that began in the early days of her marriage to Dan.

The show contains some very difficult and complex themes so those who require trigger warnings should seek them out, although be aware that they will contain spoilers. For other viewers, there is a significant impact in not knowing quite where Yorkey as the writer and lyricist will take the story which evolves unexpectedly and from multiple directions. There are hard-hitting moments and tender ones, surprises and painful viewing but also a hopeful and pragmatic commentary on mental health and individual agency. As a result, Next to Normal has deep emotional resonance, wells of empathy that will grip you in individual scenes but it also has a notable cumulative effect.

Caissie Levy is superb as Diana, a character who is in the domestic scenario that Yorkey and Kitt create as well as increasingly pulled into her own mind. Across the show, Levy makes Diana’s struggle feel very tangible. Vocally powerful, it is not always easy to play a character who may be making the wrong choices and seeing the consequences of those affect her family, but Levy retains Diana’s sense of self throughout as she has to balance pleasing others with an innate certainty about what she needs to do next.

Described in the opening song as ‘boring’ by his wife, Jamie Parker’s Dan will end up breaking your heart in a towering performance as the desperate partner who clings to every good day in the hope that a permanent change is coming. Lush and lyrical in his musical performance, Parker lands every gut-wrenching moment as a man trying to save his family while his own demons edge into view. And the leads are ably supported by Jack Wolfe’s rockstar Gabe, Eleanor Worthington-Cox as daughter Natalie and Trevor Dion Nicholas as a series of doctors.

Next to Normal is not quite a perfect musical; its subplot with Natalie going off the rails lacks edge and the big conclusion is a little too neat, but there is power in moments and a greatness in its overall effect that still makes this 16-year-old musical a revelation.

Runs until21 September 2024