Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812

Of all the Broadway musicals of the twenty-first century to have not come over to London, Dave Malloy’s ‘Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812’ feels like the great one that got away. A folk opera adaptation of essentially the main romantic plot of Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’ (so more peace than war), a visionary production from Rachel Chavkin – whose ‘Hadestown’ is currently sitting pretty in the West End – worked its way up from the tiny Ars Nova theatre all the way to Broadway, via a walloping big tent off-Broadway. There were rumours of Chavkin’s production coming over here for years, but clearly it’s not happened – but what a show for incoming Donmar director Timothy Sheader to have in his first season at the Donmar. Directed by Sheader himself, we don’t know what to expect from the casting or even staging, but Malloy’s musical to remain a wistful, wry indie folk delight.