The Mill, Sonning – until 17 January 2026
Reviewed by Marcia Spiers
4****
Fantastic Show – Great Entertainment the Festive season!
Directed by Joseph Pitcher, adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s Play and Gabriel Pascal’s Film Pygmalion, written by Lerner & Loewe, the story of Eliza Doolittle’s transformation from flower seller to a polished lady at the Embassy Ball is a well-known one. Set at a time where women were beginning to voice their discontent and society was on the brink of massive change, Henry Higgins, a confirmed bachelor, believes himself to be linguistically clever but proves to be blind to the privilege he holds and treats Eliza like a social experiment.
As is usual at the Mill the clever set has multiple moving parts enabling transformation to different scenes. Another triumph for set designer (Diego Pitarch), Lighting Designer (Jamie Platt) and Sound Designer (Chris Whybrow). The Choreography excellent (Joseph Pitcher & Alex Christian) with superb dancing energetically delivered. Favorites of mine being A Little Bit of Luck, The Ascot Gavotte and I’m Getting Married in the Morning. Costumes were representative of the time and there are a few very quickly executed costume changes. Well done to Costume Designer (Natalie Titchener) and the backstage crew.
I thoroughly enjoyed all the singing. A cast with lovely voices but of course particular credit must go to Simbi Akande, who shone as Eliza and Mark Moraghan who plays her boozy father Alfred. The whole show was boosted by a talented band of four musicians Directed by Nick Tudor with accomplished performances by the additional ensemble for the more upbeat numbers.
All the cast performed to a very high standard without exception – Simbi Akande (a credible Eliza), Nadim Naaman as the truly unlikeable (Henry Higgins), Jo Servi as Henry’s more compassionate friend (Colonel Pickering), Sophie-Louise Dann as the formidable (Mrs. Higgins), Mark Moraghan as Eliza’s no good father (Alfred Doolitle), Christopher Parkinson as the Hungarian (Zoltan Karpathy) and Alfie Blackwell as the besotted (Freddy Eynsford-Hill). I must also mention those who adapted to two parts including Francesa Ellis, Emma Fraser, James
William-Pattison, Conor McFarlane plus the super dancers Zaynah Ahmed, Imogen Bailey and Nadia Kramer.
Having seen My Fair Lady many times, this was indeed a thoroughly enjoyable and professional production. See this if you are looking to cheer yourself up over the next few weeks. It will lift your spirits!