The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief

(The Percy Jackson Musical)

Milton Keynes (UK Tour)

(Review Complete)

"Not so much a lightning bolt, more like a flash of light"

3rd September 2025

I had not read the book, seen the film or the mini-TV series of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief; the first of Rick Riordan’s novels. So I arrived at Milton Keynes theatre with an open mind.

Let’s start with the positives! The futuristic staging and production design is well structured and looked effective. The excellent sound design (Dan Samson) and lighting (Tim Deiling). Was impressive. Richard Pinner did an excellent job on the illusions that featured throughout the production. The puppetry (Laura Cubitt) design really brought mythical creatures to life, especially the Minotaur, was great. And the illusion of Hermes’ flying shoes was extremely clever and looked impressive. The staging felt immersive and dynamic and shone an insight into the subject matter.

The younger members of the audience and I guess some having read the book thought the lighting, stage presence, set and props were phenomenal. They seemed completely drawn in from the start. From what I gathered as I listened to comments in the interval.

From a music singing point of view highlights for me were the campfire song and DOA. Beautifully performed by Simone Robinson. Vasco Emauz did an excellent job as Percy Jackson, although was a bit cautious in the fight scenes. The other two leads played by Kayna Montecillo (Annabeth) and Cahir O’ Neill (Grover) Their performances were highlights, along with The Ferryman, Hades, and Ares bringing some much-needed energy and charisma to the stage. But while there were some strong individual performances, I found the overall cast a little underwhelming and dull.

As for the vocals of some of the cast. I found them a little sharp with some cast voices piercing, because I feel they lacked vocal ability to deliver the punch needed for in the bigger numbers or just bad direction.

Structurally, the first half draws you in, but very slowly and it can be hard to follow with lack of emotion on stage and diction of words from some cast members. Some scenes seemed to flow quickly with some good dance routines, yet others were limited, and I tended to drift off and look around the theatre.

Come the second half and two now with vacant seats in front of me which were filled in the first half, I wasn’t going to hold my breath for some improvement. Act two did however pack an emotional punch. Lots of thought to ponder over such as “even when everything feels impossible, you keep going”. Which the cast must have lived by on this tour. Research has shown since seeing the production, that Riordan’s storytelling subtly foreshadows the big betrayal. Part of me wished I had read it sooner.

So, to sum up. The Lightning Thief is a fun, high energy (in places) production with some modern, complex dance routines and some clever direction by Lizzie Gee.

The show has a young cast with their hearts wanting to do their best, but I was left wanting more. More drive, more energy and more realistic engagement between cast members whether mortals, monsters or half-bloods. For me it needed more vocal power, more drive on some scenes more impact in the key moments, and more of the epic high energy that I was told makes the books so special.

If you’re a long-time fan of the books, film or mini TV series, you might find yourself caught in the comparison trap, but if you’re going with no previous knowledge and with fresh eyes, then it is I am sure an enjoyable journey through Percy’s world of adventure.

Reviewer: Mark Bilsby.

We are Gifted tickets so that in return we may give an honest review. All comments are those of the reviewer and theirs alone.