Heart Wall unfolds primarily within the familiar, slightly frayed comfort of The Sun Inn, a local pub that hosts a regular karaoke night — the kind of place where the carpet has seen better days, the roof leaks, the regulars know each other’s business, and the microphone is always just a little too loud. If you arrive early to the performance, the audience is invited to take part in the pre-show karaoke which was great fun and encouraged a fun and happy pub like vibe to set the scene and eased into the unmistakable pub night warmth. By the time the actors begin to slip into character, the room already feels like a community.
What’s striking is how subtly the performers emerge. There’s no grand entrance, no theatrical flourish — instead, the actors gradually find their places, letting their characters settle in as naturally as locals drifting back to their usual stools. With only five actors carrying a one hour forty minute production, the task is considerable, yet they manage it with impressive cohesion and emotional stamina.
The story centres on Franky, played with fierce vulnerability by Rowan Robinson, a RADA graduate and Alec Guinness Award winner whose growing list of credits is clearly well earned. Franky has returned to her hometown in the North of England after a year in London, for an unannounced weekend visit. That weekend stretches into a few months, her excuse is looking for her missing pet rabbit — a small, almost comic detail that masks the deeper fractures within her family. A story of family dynamics shaken to its core by the death of a child, but yet hanging on by a thread and becoming part of local life centred around The Sun Inn. Franky’s return disrupts the broken lives of her parents, and somehow the pub becomes both a refuge for the emotions they’ve long avoided.
Rowan Robinson’s Franky is sharp, restless, and often defensive, yet the performance never loses sight of the lack of understanding beneath the bravado. Aaron Anthony is Valentine, the barman who has already been interacting with the audience during the preshow karaoke.
His easy rapport carries seamlessly into the play, and he becomes the grounded steady pulse of the pub scenes and the voice of reason. Olivia Forrest brings a brilliant, grounded energy to Charlene, the friend who stayed behind. She’s the kind of small town character who doesn’t dream of escape because she doesn’t feel she needs to; she knows everyone, keeps tabs on everything, and has carved out a life she’s content with. Forrest plays her with humour and bite, she’s brash but also has a depth not at first visible from her outward projection.
The emotional weight of the piece rests heavily on Sophie Stanton as Linda, Franky’s mother, and Deka Walmsley as Dez, her father. Both are seasoned performers with long, impressive careers, and here they deliver raw, unvarnished portrayals of two people hollowed out by loss. Their scenes are some of the most affecting in the play — tense and painfully believable. They embody the exhaustion of parents who have run out of ways to cope, yet still hold onto the last remnants of family life. These two performances in Heart Wall give them even more credit as actors who can take on demanding and difficult roles, allowing them to perform as broken people.
The audience were upbeat throughout the subtle nuances of humour and the karaoke that flows through the drama and respectful in the more dramatic scenes. Kit Worthington’s writing is clever in its restraint; the play doesn’t reveal its full hand until the final scenes, allowing the emotional truth to land with greater impact. Katie Greenall’s direction keeps the pace fluid, letting the karaoke thread run through the drama without ever undermining it.
The design team deserves special mention. Hazel Low’s set transforms subtly but strikingly from pub to reservoir — an unexpected shift that somehow works — while Simisola Majekodunmi’s lighting guides us through changes of location and mood with quiet precision.
Mwen’s sound design balances dialogue and karaoke seamlessly, no small feat in a space buzzing with live audience energy. It was a full house at the Bush Theatre, and it’s easy to see why. Heart Wall is a thoughtful, surprising piece of theatre that blends humour, grief, and community into a story that lingers long after the final song fades.
The Bush Theatre’s main performance space: The Holloway Theatre, West London
The show runs until 16th May 2026
Reviewer - Penny Curran
On -14th April 2026
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