The Little Big Things Theatre Review

The Little Big Things is about the life of Henry Fraser, an aspiring rugby player whose life at seventeen years old was turned completely upside down following an accident in Portugal leaving him paralysed and a full time wheelchair user. The musical had been adapted onto the stage by Joe White and Luke Sheppard based on a book of the same name written by Henry Fraser himself.

The musical was led by Jonny Amies and Ed Larkin who both play Henry Fraser at different stages of his life, with the show being made up of conversations between them as they try to come to terms with Henry’s new life.

Amies played Fraser before the accident and did a really good job of portraying the young carefree cheeky chap who loved rugby but managed to switch to a more emotive character as the show progressed; complimented perfectly by his vocals. Larkin played the post-accident version of Henry, and as a full time wheelchair user himself, became the first wheelchair-using actor to lead a West End show! It’s fantastic to finally see some representation on the stage and Larkin too did a great job especially with his one liners getting laughs from the audience.

The casting director did an amazing job with this show making it one of the most inclusive I’ve seen, with all the actors having flawless performances. Linzi Hateley played Fran Fraser, Henry’s mum, and her rendition of ‘One to Seventeen’ was a spine tingling and really powerful one to watch as she was told what had happened to Henry in the hospital. Henry’s dad played by Alasdair Harvey perfectly portrayed a man who was unable to express his emotions in such a difficult period of his life.

Amy Trigg is also a permanent wheelchair user and played Agnes, Henry’s physio, who was a pivotal part of his recovery and who gave him the idea to become a painter. One of my favourite scenes was when Henry’s painting were revealed at the end of the show, it just proves that you really can do anything you set your mind to and the world needs to keep adapting to enable this.

The musical had a real mixture of highs and lows, the uplifting scenes helped to boost the mood of what otherwise could’ve been a really sad show. Although sometimes it was a little hard to keep up with the emotional rollercoaster such as a big dance number of ‘Work Of Heart’ immediately after the accident. With that being said the music by Nick Butcher and Tom Ling was very catchy and I’ve been listening to the soundtrack since our visit.

The set design by Colin Richmond is somewhat simple but it works perfectly with the story and splashes of colour projected onto the floor brought the emotion of the characters to life. For the first time ever the stage was completely 360° meaning everyone had a good view, I thought this was really cool and allowed the story to be brought to life even more. The theatre was incredibly accessible for the wheelchair users and even had the facilities to allow Ed Larkin to fly in his wheelchair which was very impressive.

Having now read Henry Frasers book ‘The Little Big Things’ my only criticism would be the lack of accuracy of Henry’s physical ability. Henry is fully paralysed and has no movement in his arms yet in the show Larkin was still moving them and I just feel it would be more powerful if it was more true to real life. As a wheelchair user myself I was really happy to finally see a show with representation, the story along with the hope was motivating and I could relate to the final message of ‘it’s the little things that means the big things to me’. I would therefore give The Little Big Things 4.5 stars and would love to see it again!

The shows run recently ended, the @SohoPlace theatre is (as far as I am aware) the only theatre to have wheelchair access to the stage which unfortunately gives the show limited options to come back to the West End but I do hope they find a way to bring it back as more people need to hear the powerful message. In the meantime I would definitely recommend reading Henry’s book until the show hopefully makes its return, Henry is a true inspiration.

Access at the @Sohoplace

Located a 15 minute walk from Charing Cross Station, @Sohoplace as you may have guessed is in Soho. There are two soho theatres, so if you’re going here be sure to put the correct address in maps, we made that mistake and ended up walking through a very busy China Town for no reason lol.

Opened in 2022, @Sohoplace is the newest West End theatre and the venue had a constellation theme with stars decorating the ceilings, it was very posh! The access was really good, there were multiple lifts, different places to sit and the staff were all really helpful. The shop was accessible but unfortunately as the show was nearing the end of its run most things were sold out.

Our seats were located on the First Balcony seats B 26 and 27 which was on one of the corners, I was on the end of the aisle but the aisle itself was very cramped and didn’t leave people with much space. We did have a very good view of the whole stage, at the end there was a standing ovation and our seats were too low to see over the person in front but the man in front was considerate and didn’t fully stand so I could still see.

Overall a great experience watching a great show!