Evolution London in Battersea Park – until 13th September 2026
Reviewed by Mike Linane
5*****
First there was the stage show, then the record-breaking Hollywood film and now comes the immersive movie musical.
So what’s this all about I hear you ask. When you arrive at the venue you walk into a proper fairground setting with lots of rides you can go on and side stalls where you can try to pick up a duck by a stick with a hook on the end of it or pick a winner on the Kentucky Derby, you know the kind of thing. Straight back to your childhood. The rides and stalls aren’t free but are very reasonably price.
You can also buy food – hamburgers, fries, ice cream sundaes and there is also a bar for liquid refreshment. It’s good to arrive early so you can immerse yourself in all this fun and take yourself back to those summer nights of the late 1950’s.
Then on a big screen we see trailers for films of the 50’s and when the doors open and you are free to enter the auditorium where the show is to take place – prepare yourself to go straight back to your high school days at Rydell High. The theatre is decked out in different sections all that have stages within them where during the course of the evening various parts of the show will be performed. There is the Main Gym where most of the show takes place, but also the Rydell Autoshop (Greased Lightning) the Pink Clubhouse (all of the girlie songs), the National Bandstand, the Benefit Beauty School and the Shake Shack – you get the idea.
Seating is in two sections: the Drive In where you get to sit behind 50’s vintage car fronts (and gives you the best view of the show, and also the Frosty Diner where you sit in a re-imagined American Diner. As the show is played in the round there really isn’t a bad seat in the house.
Or if you are feeling energetic enough you can stand throughout the show and join in with all the fun, singing and dancing. You are actively encouraged to join in with everything as much as you want to. Even if you are in the seating areas you are encouraged to go down on to the dance floor or even the actual stage at times to join in.
If you decide to stay in your seats don’t worry, many of the cast come round to you and interact with you throughout the show. You can order food and drink to be brought to your table or you can go to the fully-functioning diner counter to buy your own.
All this to keep you amused and the show hasn’t even started yet!
So what is the actual show all about? Well, there are plenty of large cinema screens placed all round the auditorium on which the original film of Grease is played, but whilst this is going on beneath the screens on one of the many stages live actors come out and also perform the show at exactly the same time. This is a really original concept and is so clever. No matter where you look there is always something going on around you.
The whole point of the evening is to have fun and the entire cast work their socks off to ensure that you do just that. If you don’t want to dance just sing along and wave your hands in the air.
For those worried about being so active during these hot summer nights, worry not, the theatre is fully air conditioned and lovely and cool.
Ricky Wilson, of the Kaiser Chiefs band, is the star of the evening coming out to perform as the Teen Angel but it is invidious really to single him out because all of the rest of the cast are just as good whether they are playing a main role or are there as backing support.
This is the most fun you are going to have at any trip to the theatre in London this summer and I urge you to dress up in costume (if you so desire), get out those dancing shoes and ra-ra skirts, and get yourself along to Evolution London for a night of entertainment that you won’t forget in a very long time.