Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch – until 31st October 2026
Reviewed by Mike Linane
3***
The Disappearing Man is a bold new drama about legacy, illusion, and second chances
One last act. One final illusion. But every trick has a price.
It tells the story of washed-up magician Bazza Cadabra who returns to the once-glittering Clacton-on-Sea, ready for a final comeback. He is determined to reclaim the spotlight and prove he’s still got what it takes 20 years on.
This comeback isn’t just about applause. At the heart of Bazza’s ambition is something far more fragile, his bond with his son. Bound by shared secrets, old tricks, and unfinished business, their reunion sparks hope, rivalry, and the possibility of something extraordinary. As Bazza faces a flashy young magician, a no-nonsense new manager, and the family he left behind, the lines between performance and reality begin to blur.
This play really does begin with a bang and it is the consequences of what happens at the very start that we follow for the rest of the performance in a slow, drawn-out play which could probably do with half an hour of it being cut as a lot of ground is gone over again and again.
Directed by Alex Thorpe the cast of Matt Bardock as Bazza, Debra Baker as his ex-wife Wendy, David Angland as his son Harry, Courtney George as his manager Isha and a rogue fortune teller and Kadell Herida as his much younger rival Presto show how one man’s drive to try to reclaim what he thinks is his rightful position in the live magic world can ultimately destroy all about him.
It has always been Bazza’s dream to pull off the hardest trick in the book – a trick that has already claimed the lives of twelve previous magicians. If he can pull this off fame and fortune will be his – but every trick has a price.
A few live tricks are performed on stage during the play mostly involving slight of hand but unless you are close up to these it is hard to tell which card is being produced and we only have the character’s words to go on that the trick has been achieved. A few more bigger scale bits of magic would not go amiss to liven up the proceedings on stage so that we truly believe Bazza has a chance of making the comeback he so desperately seeks. However, there is one trick near the end of the show that will leave you gasping!
This is a new play by Kenny Emson and will take time to settle in and find its level. At the moment it is too long and is fairly dormant in its presentation. Maybe it would work better in a more intimate theatre as the stage it was on seemed far too big for the story it was telling.