Head strong Jamaican country boy, Ivan Martin (Natey Jones) relocates to the island’s capital with musical dreams, like so many wannabes. Whilst waiting for his big break, Ivan finds board and work at the Pentecostal church of Preacher (Ashley Samuels).  There he meets Elsa (Madeline Charlemagne), the minister’s beautiful and sweet-voiced foster daughter. The two are instantly fixated with each other but Ivan will have to contend with Preacher, whose guardianship duties don’t prevent him from having designs on Elsa.  A run in between the men, leads to a run in with the law for Ivan. The odds are stacked against him as a poor boy from the sticks. This spurs Elsa to make a clean break, leaving Preacher’s charge to live with Ivan. Tensions mount however, as Ivan’s frustrations grow over his stalling career and his woman’s religious devotion.

Ivan signs a dodgy deal with the islands big shot record exec, Mr Hilton (Thomas Vernal) but that doesn’t lead to the instant stardom he anticipates. Tired of Hilton’s shenanigans, Ivan takes matters into his own hands.  He diversifies into some light drug dealing, telling Elsa he’s ‘gone fishing’. What’s meant to be a stop-gap becomes a snare. After a clash with the law more serious than ever, Ivan goes on the lamb. His stylish outlaw antics turn him into a local hero, perversely leading to the fillip for his musical career that he couldn’t get when he was living straight. Yet with the law and disgruntled drug lords on his back, Ivan might not live long enough to enjoy his newfound acclaim.

The stage adaptation of The Harder They Come derives from the cult film starring the recently departed Reggae legend, Jimmy Cliff, and is loosely based on true events. It’s a musical for those who don’t care much for musicals. You’re not likely to find a cooler and funkier production, especially in the hands of Pulitzer-prize winning writer/composer Suzan-Lori Parks and director, Matthew Xia, who spearhead the Theatre Royal Stratford’s marvellous revival, following a record-breaking return in 2025. The house band is fabulous. The vocal and dance performances are superb, with especially noteworthy turns by leads Charlemagne, Jones and Gospel vocalist, Rachel John who plays Daisy, Ivan’s mother.  The ensemble are having a blast and who could blame them? The Harder They Come packs in so many cross-over hits written by Cliff (You Can Get It if You Really Want, the title track, Many Rivers to Cross – on which Charlemagne and John bring the house down with viscerally-moving vocals), as well as tunes by other Reggae greats (Desmond Dekker’s The Israelites, Johnny Nash’s I Can See Clearly Now, and Rivers of Babylon, made famous by Boney M).  The magic is prolonged further, with a closing medley of some of the show’s best-loved tunes.

The Harder They Come’s jubilant veneer, so intoxicating that it stirs the audience to panto-like participation, sugars the bitter-pill of the socio-political commentary. In Ivan’s world, the twee meritocratic messaging of You Can Get It If You Really Want is more like mockery. The song takes on a stinging irony as Ivan comes up against a merciless system, still mired in the legacies of slavery and colonialism, where corrupt law enforcement, so-called men-of-the-cloth, crooked entrepreneurs and druglords all close ranks to protect their interests. The Harder They Come doesn’t belabour the point, leaving as much room to dance as to ruminate. Unmissable.

The Harder They Come – playing at the Theatre Royal Stratford East until 4 July 2026.

Personnel:

Book and Additional New Songs: Suzan-Lori Parks

Director: Matthew Xia

Set Design: Simon Kenny

Costume Design: Jessica Cabassa

Choreography and Intimacy Director: Shelley Maxwell

Cast:

Danny Bailey – José

Craig Blake – Ray

Madeline Charlemagne – Elsa

Rachel John – Daisy

Natey Jones – Ivan

Simon-Anthony Rhoden – Pedro

Ashley Samuels – Preacher

Thomas Vernal – Mr. Hilton

Ensemble:

Chanice Alexander-Burnett

Ashh Blackwood

Aisha Davis

Kage Douglas

Robert Grose

Llewellyn Jamal

Grace Kanyamibwa

Sophia MacKay

Jack Matthew

Nathaniel Morrison

Ellie Seaton

Band:

Musical director/Keys 2: Luke Bacchus

Gigi Kuo – Keys 1

Ashley Blasse – Guitar

Derrick Taylor – Bass

Marley Drummond – Drums

Will Miles – Percussion

Deana Wilhelm – Trumpet

Nathaniel Cross – Trombone

This review also features on the I Was Just Thinking blog…