The Harder They Come review – electrifying reggae musical is sweet, dandy and catchy as hell

<p><strong>Theatre Royal Stratford East, London<br></strong>Matthew Xia directs a consummate adaptation of the 1972 Jamaican thriller, whose irresistible soundtrack is bolstered by new songs</p><p>Scene-setting doesn’t get much better than this. As the band build up the driving reggae skank of Toots and the Maytals’ Funky Kingston, the Jamaican capital awakens. A workman’s hammer and a cleaner’s brush help tap out the tune, the stage bustles with life and in one comic vignette a banana is brandished like a gun.</p><p>Later in the show, a tamarind-switch punishment will provide a more brutal percussion and real pistols will be drawn – one in each hand, as in the iconic poster for the 1972 Jamaican movie. Part of the phenomenal achievement of this musical adaptation is how the story is propelled from sun-kissed comedy to elegiac tragedy with the same front-footed energy as that opener, one of several reggae standards bolstering the film’s genre-defining soundtrack featuring Jimmy Cliff, the Melodians and Desmond Dekker.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/sep/24/the-harder-they-come-review-reggae-musical">Continue reading...</a>