Public - The Musical Review: restroom revival is a total number one!
- Jack Davey
- 16 hours ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 6 hours ago
04 June 2026 I 19:00 I Curve Theatre, Leicester (Studio)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I PR - Invite
It's always refreshing to see a new, original concept brought to the table, and Public - The Musical does exactly that. Four strangers are locked in a gender-neutral public toilet with no way out. A wedding guest, a banker, an ultra-woke activist and an anxious young man. After critical praise at London's VAULT Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, this new musical arrives in Leicester's Curve Theatre for a strictly limited run in their studio space.
It really feels like the right time for this show to come around, where public restrooms are becoming increasingly weaponized as a political target against transgender inclusion, and who is 'allowed' to access single-sex spaces. Brought to the stage by queer collective Stroud And Notes, their writing addresses this social climate, as views and personalities clash between the four characters.
Content creator and activist Zo (Grace Towning) is the first to enter the restroom, and she certainly makes an impression with her confidence and quick-witted tongue. She is financially spoilt, and Towning bestows her with an eccentric behaviour that is highly amusing, as Zo tries to overcompensates for her insecurities.
She often butts heads with Andrew (Matt Corner), a hyper-masculine banker and cyclist. In a modern queer musical, this already screams antagonist, right? And this isn't to say that his short temper, conservative attitudes and dismissal of pronouns don't cause conflict with others. But importantly Andrew, nor anyone, is villainised for theatrical gimmick. Each of the four characters have faults and self-doubts that make them human, acting as the show's incidental moral lesson to not take others at face value.
Kyla Stroud's pop-rock compositions shine (petition for a cast recording anyone?). In such an intimate auditorium, I noticed a couple of audience members bopping in their seats, a testament to how catchy Stroud's score is! There is a nice balance between the comedy of songs such as Small Talk, mocking the awkwardness of the situation, and those used to probe internal feelings. Particularly for Zo and Andrew, whose louder exteriors are shaped by more vulnerable asides.
The cast is completed by Finley (Ivano Turco) and Laura (Cole Dennis), an anxious gay man and non-binary people pleaser respectively. Both carry an outstanding musicality that breathes through the production. A moment of dialogue between these two really struck me, sharing common ground as minorities who wish to exist without the expectation to 'fight' for their community. The scene also tackles the topic of Zo's performative activism, where her allyship becomes influenced by her own self-image.
These four individuals are forced together, which is where Amy Jane Cook's set design is so convincing. It holds a claustrophobic feel, complete with bins and dirty tiles loaded with graffiti (there ain't no party like an S-Club party!). Cook's fascinating semi-realism allows the performers to act in a functional way, using the taps and taking selfies in the mirror. A drug trip even seen the entire room physically expand, and turn neon under Katy Morison's lighting. You'd be surprised how much can happen in one bathroom!
It can be notoriously challenging for new musicals to find the right recipe, although Hannah Sands' direction doesn't put a foot wrong. With every character so layered, this revival is remarkably honest and in-touch with its humanity. It brings a tear to the eye, as a beautifully diverse cast allows all audiences the opportunity to connect with someone on that stage. Public - The Musical is primarily for all, though I suspect like me, it'll find its demographic with young people through its dark-ish humour and current-ness.
Playing at Leicester's Curve Theatre until 13th June: https://www.publicthemusical.live/