Parody of the Rings
01 October 2025
Wilton’s Music Hall
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
Parody of the Rings recently took up a short residence in the gorgeous Wilton’s Music Hall, and as a big Lord of the Rings fan, I had to check it out of course. I’m not sure if it was the size of the venue, or the higher than usual ticket prices, but somehow this show didn’t quite come together for me.
Theatre manager Jackson and usher Peter welcome the audience to a fundraising event to save their theatre from closure, a Lord of the Rings trilogy movie screening including a tombola with fantastic prizes. A 12 hour long event to raise money and delight the fans, but just as the screening is supposed to start, the projector starts smoking and a fire alarm is set off. Trying to be helpful, Peter throws water on the projector to extinguish it, accidentally ruining it and leaving the theatre without a way to screen the films. Pressed for a solution, Jackson steps up and proceeds to re-enact the movies with the help of random props from the tombola table and from behind the stage, and of course with a hapless Peter being roped in to assist.
What follows is a madcap adventure that turns mops into flowing beards and hula hoops into previous rings. The wild two-hander is a hilarious romp, with the two actors whirling through the plot while recruiting audience members to help out. There is a brilliant idea behind this fringe show, yet it doesn’t quite connect in the larger auditorium. It feels like it would be more at home in a smaller pub theatre, where the one hour runtime is more expected. In the music hall, it seems adrift, having to rush through the last twenty minutes where a plethora of plot is skipped to keep the show brief.
This show could easily be extended to two hours without losing its charm, perhaps giving more justification to the higher prices of a venue like Wilton’s. If you have a chance to see this in a smaller theatre, I’d definitely recommend it, it’s a fun little show! Though for a larger venue, it definitely needs more work to not feel so out of place.
Rob Barron 22 January 2026
When looking for a review of a play, I want the play to be reviewed, not the venue. Whether you feel the theatre is a bit big or the entry price even bigger really is not what I came here to read about. I’ll be seeing Parody of the Rings this evening at Lighthouse, Poole where they will be performing in the 700-seat theatre, not the 100-seat Sherling Studio which I admit I love because it is so close-up and intimate. But when I am watching it, I’m not going to be thinking that this would be better in the big hall at the local pub. What should I do? Shout out ‘Grab yer coats everyone – and yer mop for Gandalf’s beard – we’re shifting it down to the Red Lion!’
Bianca 22 January 2026 — Post author
For me, whether a show is scaled to its venue is very important. A fantastic small pub show can absolutely drown in a huge West End theatre, while a large dance show would feel incredibly crammed on a tiny stage. These are considerations productions must contend with, and how well they scale up or down is a mark of quality for me.
If this is something you do not want to read about, you are very welcome to browse away from my review blog, my style and opinions are probably not for you, and that’s perfectly fine. Hope you still enjoy the show tonight.