Review: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, @sohoplace ★★★★

A story of ingenuity, community and hope, told with heart and theatrical flair

William Kamkwamba was fourteen years old and living in the village of Wimbe, Malawi, when a catastrophic famine struck in 2001. Forced out of school because his family could not afford the fees, he borrowed books from his local library and, through extraordinary ingenuity, built a wind turbine from scavenged bicycle parts and blue gum trees. It powered his family’s home, and then, crucially, a water pump that brought drinking water to his village. He went on to speak at TEDGlobal, study at Dartmouth College, and found the Moving Windmills Project to support communities across Malawi. It is a story that deserves to be told on stage.

This West End transfer of the RSC world premiere, with book and lyrics by Richy Hughes and music and lyrics by Tim Sutton, directed by Lynette Linton (formerly Artistic Director of the Bush Theatre), arrives at @sohoplace having already won considerable praise in Stratford-upon-Avon. It is not difficult to see why.

The set, designed by Frankie Bradshaw, uses three levels of corrugated iron and brushwood to evoke a world that is makeshift without ever feeling hopeless, a distinction that matters enormously given the subject. The costumes are excellent throughout, rooting us firmly in the community. And the final windmill, large enough to be clambered upon, is a genuinely thrilling piece of design. Gino Ricardo Green‘s video design adds another layer, with quirky, cartoon-like projections of what is moving through William’s mind that both intrigue and illuminate the scientific process at the heart of the story.

Alistair Nwachukwu, in the title role, holds the show with quiet, serious commitment. Around him, the ensemble creates a vivid portrait of a community under immense pressure, yet the production never loses sight of the joy within that community. The Kachokolo school song, delivered with deftly observed comic flair, is a particular delight. Particularly affecting is Eddie Elliott as the father, Jeremiah, in a scene where he despairs at his inability to provide for his children. The universality of that parental anguish lands with full force, and there were few dry eyes in the house. The black market scenes and the sequences depicting charitable dependency are handled with equally clear-eyed honesty, capturing both the desperation of the choices people face and the courage required to make them.

The show is also admirably alert to politics. A populist politician who arrives with easy charm and no solutions is both darkly funny and entirely recognisable, all the more unsettling for it. The production wisely illuminates how intentional the Kamkwamba family’s commitment to education was, giving William’s determination its proper context rather than presenting his ingenuity as something that arrived from nowhere.

Among the most inventive choices is the embodiment of the Hunger Hyena as a dancer, with Shaka Kalokoh moving with such fluid menace that the sense of dread stalking the village becomes viscerally present. It is inspired physical storytelling. The dog puppet, too, is genuinely wonderful, and Yana Penrose, serving as Puppetry Captain, is a talent to watch across everything she does throughout the evening. The musicians are tucked away out of sight, which feels like a missed opportunity, as their playing draws the audience into both the joy and the grief of Malawi with real conviction.

The production also earns considerable warmth from a late glimpse of footage of the real William Kamkwamba at the TED conference. After nearly three hours with his story, seeing the man himself is enormously moving.

That running time is worth addressing, because the show would be even stronger with some trimming. The opening market scene is charming and well performed, but does not quite earn its length. The romance between Annie (Tsemaye Bob-Egbe) and Mike Kachigunda (Owen Chaponda) is handled with care, though perhaps not every beat of it is essential to the larger story. The sequence in which the prototype windmill is assembled also stretches a little. Nothing here is bad, and the affection of the creative team for every corner of this material is clearly genuine. But some tightening would sharpen the emotional arc and allow the production’s most powerful moments to land even harder.

Those moments are considerable. A scene in which the community mourns its lost friends is quietly devastating. The production’s insistence that parents everywhere simply want what is best for their children, and are not always given the means to provide it, is a reminder of what theatre at its finest can do: expand our understanding of lives beyond our own.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind tells its story with heart, intelligence, and real theatrical flair. Its length may test some, but the spirit of this piece is irresistible, and @sohoplace is a fitting home for it.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind runs at @sohoplace until 18 July 2026. Tickets from £25. BSL interpreted, captioned, and audio described performances available. Age guidance: 9+.

The production’s insistence that parents everywhere simply want what is best for their children, and are not always given the means to provide it, is a reminder of what theatre at its finest can do: expand our understanding of lives beyond our own.

All images: Tyler Fayose

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