**Kings Head Theatre • 9th Jan - 15th Feb**

What I am hoping will be the first of many visits to the Kings Head Theatre this year, my first trip of 2026 finds me at the press night for the World Premiere of new musical, Already Perfect, music, lyrics and book having all been written by one of the shows stars, Tony Award winner Levi Kreis. Playing the productions central character, who also just happens to be a Tony Award winning performer called Levi, it seemed fair to assume that much of what was about to unfold over the productions 100 minute duration was going to be highly autobiographical in nature, and indeed, after a bit of post-show googling, there did seem to be many moments that had definitely originated from Kreis’s own lived experiences, most notably sharing his characters six years of conversion therapy, which came as the result of an evangelical upbringing. However, throughout the show the lines between fact and fiction begin to blur just as much as the lines between reality and fantasy, the surrealness of which helps create an intriguing way to take the audience through the ‘fictional’ Levi’s unfolding story of long denied self acceptance.

The story all takes place backstage in the dressing room Levi has retreated to on the eve of his Broadway show, tonight being the night it is being filmed for prosperity. His matinee warm-up has not gone well, and when he enters the room he is already spiralling into an uncontrollable panic, not helped by having also just been dumped by his latest partner via a text message due, it would seem, to his positive HIV status. These events all conspire to send him to the brink of breaking a successful 11 month abstinence from substance abuse. Fortunately, his sponsor Ben, (played by Yiftacj ‘iffy’ Mizrahi, who I last saw playing Sammy Stein in last years production of Faygele at the Marylebone Theatre) arrives just in time to intervene, reminding the performer how he used to be able to channel his heartbreak into his music as a coping mechanism. This becomes the perfect way to integrate the first of what quickly becomes an impressive list of original songs that are peppered throughout the show, orchestrated by Matthew Antonio Perri and all performed with incredible conviction by the three strong cast. However, music alone is not going to answer the lifetime of issues Levi is desperately trying to reconcile, the key to his peace of mind arriving instead from a much less conventional place.

If you were to ask a group of gay men what they would want to tell their younger selves, I am sure many would reply, “I’d like to tell them that it’s all going to turn out alright”. It soon becomes clear however that Levi would much rather reconnect with his inner child in order to ‘strangle him!’, retrospectively seeing his younger self as being an ‘icon of self destruction’. Suddenly, in a classic case of ‘be careful what you wish for’, he does in fact find himself being confronted by his younger self, (Killian Thomas Lefevre) who is quick to observe that his older self is clearly, “blocking out some pretty big shit!’, and in order to unpack a lifetime of increasingly intense trauma, various scenarios from the past are ingeniously brought back to life. (All imaginatively facilitated by director, Dave Solomon, set designer, Jason Ardizzone-West, and lighting designer Ian Scott). With so much to unpack, despite the strange circumstances in which he finds himself, it’s a crushing blow for Levi to realise that such interactions still won’t alter the path his life took and the events he had to negotiate along the way. At best, it can only be hoped that his perspective might shift enough to allow him to find the beautiful in the present and the life he now finds himself living.

There are complex conversations between younger and older Levi that the more grounded Ben must help facilitate as both come to terms with their demons, the younger Levi in shock at what his future self has become, and the older Levi laying the blame for his problems on the narcissistic and reckless behaviour of his younger self. Each of these three roles are brilliantly played, and whilst Mizrahi is immensely likeable in his supportive and charmingly comic role, it is Lefevre who ultimately lights up the stage with an energetic and engagingly uplifting performance when he lets rip on some of the shows bigger songs. Kreis understandably brings an emotional intensity to his character who he presents as being exceptionally tightly wound with tall he anguish of self-loathing from the past. At times his performance does play a lot bigger than the size of the venue he finds himself, but timidity is not something the ambition or aspirations of this whole production could be accused of. It clearly has the scale of a West End transfer in it’s sights, and in doing so makes both incredible and inventive use of the space available, delivering an experience worthy of a theatre four times the size of this Islington fringe venue. Solomon’s imaginative direction (also credited with additional input on the Book) alongside Ardizzone-West, have somehow managed to conjure up a two-tier stage, (who knew such a thing could have been possible at The Kings Head) and riding roughshod over the divide between audience and stage all just add to the highly engaging experience as we watch events take Levi from the brink of self destruction to the realisation that, despite the flaws he has a tendency to relentlessly flagellate himself with, there is every chance he might just be ‘already perfect’.

Despite there being no ‘Ghost of Christmas future’ to take us beyond the present day setting of this story, (an analogy I only draw due to the production being so close to the festive season), there is a resolution of sorts with an ending I confess to finding unexpectedly emotional. Whether Already Perfect will get the opportunity to transfer from a fringe theatre to a West End stage remains to be seen, but from what I saw tonight it is more than ready should such an opportunity arise.

★ ★ ★ ★