Influence
25 April 2026
Queens Park Arts Centre, Aylesbury
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
During a recent trip outside of London, I managed to catch Influence, a new play by Dario Knight, staged at the Queens Park Arts Centre in Aylesbury on 24 and 25 April.
The one act play is set inside a theatre bar in the West End. It is press night, the director and press agent are panicking over a mediocre show, pondering on how to influence critics for more favourable reviews, while an infamous critic goes head to head with a young vlogger over whose work is more relevant to today’s audiences.
The show is a bit of a comical farce, but with a surprising amount of depth behind it. While the comedy definitely reigns supreme, producing a plethora of giggles, smirks, and belly laughs from the audience, the show explores today’s realm of theatre reviewing and the changing influence critics have on the success of a production. While the “old guard” of dedicated critics for major publications might have higher education and base their work on journalistic principles and their knowledge of theatre history, younger audiences might tend towards more social media oriented reviewers or vloggers nowadays. This is wonderfully explored in this quippy play, both with a ton of humour, but also well written dialogue that feels natural despite the occasionally contrived situations the characters find themselves in.
This is a highly entertaining show that has wit and wisdom in droves, a fantastic concept brought to the stage in an engaging one act play. From actors trying to disguise themselves to sneak into the press party over reviewers having a shouting match over their opinions to the director edging close to a mental breakdown, this production is packed with hilarious situations woven together to ask big questions with little effort. It feels current and topical, and a little self-indulgent at times. I do hope this one makes it to London soon, I would love to see reviewers and critics react to this amusing examination of their work. A great new play that’s delightfully funny and poignant all at once.
