The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Warnings: Not suitable for those aged under 6.
Signed performance: 20th June 2026 at 2.30pm.
Captioned performance: 27th June 2026 at 2.30pm.
Audio described performance: 10th July 2026 at 7.30pm.
Malawi. Drought. Can William save his village? He’s just 13 and has only books and scraps of old machinery to construct a windmill to produce energy.
William Kamkwamba’s autobiography and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s film is transformed into a musical by Richy Hughes and Tim Sutton.
A transfer to London from the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford Upon Avon.
The Boy who Harnessed The Wind
Offer expires: Fri, 29th May 2026
Book between: Fri, 1st May 2026 and Fri, 29th May 2026
Buy best available top non-premium price £75 or second price £50 (£85, £60 Friday Evenings) tickets (from agency / offer allocation) reduced to £70 / £45 (£80 / £55 Friday Evenings) each at all Monday to Friday EVENING performances ONLY.
Original ticket prices may vary by performance, and some prices are not available on all dates, the system will advise at time of enquiry.
Some seats may be in the upper circle (second tier, highest in venue). Seat Information.
Some "peak dates" are excluded - the system will advise at time of enquiry.
Ticket selection is from agency's allocation. Subject to allocation availability, change, withdrawal and agency discretion.
**LOVEtheatre Week**
Offer expires: Sun, 17th May 2026
Book between: Fri, 8th May 2026 and Sun, 17th May 2026
Shows include: Oliver, An Ideal Husband, Avenue Q, Cyrano De Bergerac, International Stand up comedy, Relics, The Producers, Why I stuck a Flare up my arse for england, Wicked, Brainiac Live, State Ballet Swan lake, Dark Of the Moon, Counterpoint of Chaos, Burlesque, Let the right one in, Churchill’s Urinal, Glengarry Glen Ross, Jess Robinson: Elton Reimagined, FRISKY’S REMIX ROULETTE, Kinky Boots, The Book of Mormon, Titanique, Roles We'll never Play, Being Mr Wickham, Derrière on a G String, The Enormous Crocodile, The Oresteia, Bluey (New Wimbledon Theatre), Sierra Boggess, Trevor Ashley: A Mill years of Minnelli, Minus 320*F, The Boy who Harnessed the Wind, Indy!, The Ghost of White Hart Lane, Shantify, The Play that goes wrong, James Phelan: SHOWMAN, Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares, Don’t Tell Dad About Diana, Teeth N Smiles, The Gruffalo, Faulty Towers the Dining Experience, Mother Courage and her Children, Much Ado About Nothing, As you Like it, Matthew Bourne's The Car Man, The Simon & Garfunkel Story, Yamoto, Drummers of Japan.
The above productions are in this offer.
All provide a LIMITED number of seats for this offer. Not all shows supply tickets at all prices.
Original ticket prices may vary by performance, and some prices are not available on all dates, the system will advise at time of enquiry.
Some "peak dates" are excluded. The system will advise at time of enquiry.
Ticket selection is by agency allocation. Subject to allocation availability, change, withdrawal and agency discretion.
(seen at the afternoon performance on 7th May 2026)
The pre-show publicity sells this as the story of William Kamkwamba (Alistair Nwachuukwu). A 13-year-old boy who defies extreme poverty in Malawi to educate himself from books, building a windmill to power a village water pump and save them from drought starvation.
This key story does not kick in until 25 minutes before the end of the show. Certainly there is a moment of drama when father Jeremiah (Eddie Elliott) kicks the prototype over, but one or two kindly laughs aside, there is nothing else happening on the stage for over two hours.
Richy Hughes and Tim Sutton create something akin to a drama workshop or social outreach project. The book sags as deeply uninteresting minor stories are added and vanish without explanation. Dialogue careens wildly between intelligent and “high school play” level.
Lyrics are a bingo card of musical theatre cliches. Just when a song feels like it is going somewhere, a line from any other show crashes it back to earth.
Only the music has a certain charm, the warmth of Oliver Fenwick’s African village light on Frankie Bradshaw’s exquisitely chosen costume fabrics bringing out a real feel of the country on a special continent.
Tsemay Bob-Egbe and Owen Chaponda make the most of their love affair, and Newton Matthews is a comedy turn who retains his dignity to enliven immeasurably every scene he is in.
In the small space, Shelley Maxwell does a good job of marshalling the company for larger dance numbers, and they will no doubt relax further into them as the run continues.
Yana Penrose does not quite rise to “Harold Fry” levels with her dog puppet, but offers a little distraction and even hope to the village.
Which is key to this production. We are part of it, and absorb more than we realise of the tribal atmosphere.
If only the show were edited to a tight 90 minutes, with confidence in its real aim - to dazzle us with ingenuity. At the moment, there is alas, too much hot air in the storyline, which a talented cast struggle to put to productive use.
The monkey advises checking performance times on your tickets and that performances are happening as scheduled, before travelling.
| Run Time: | 2 hours 45 minutes, including one interval |
| Monday: | 7.30pm |
| Tuesday: | 7.30pm |
| Wednesday: | 7.30pm |
| Thursday: | 2.30pm, 7.30pm |
| Friday: | 7.30pm |
| Saturday: | 2.30pm, 7.30pm |
| Sunday: | X |
Venue Box Office & Current Prices
0330 333 5961Venue box office details and show price charts are available on the @sohoplace page.
Ticketpipe
The Boy Who Harnessed the WindTodayTix
TodayTix. Charge between 10% and 20% booking fee per ticket. Discounts are often available as this is a large global ticketing company with this specific aim.
London Theatre Direct
Londontheatredirect.com. Charge between 10% and 25% booking fee per ticket. Discounts are frequently available. Part of Trafalgar Theatre Group, known for customer service and unique offers.
Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster.co.uk. Charge around 8% to 10% booking fee per ticket. Handling fees may also be added. This is the largest ticketing agency worldwide.
LoveTheatre.com
Lovetheatre.com. Charge around 10% booking fee per ticket. They are owned by Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) and often have good deals on shows at ATG venues.
Availability: Box office discretion
Price: £30
Notes: App TodayTix offer £30 “Rush tickets” for all performances. Released for the performance on that day, first-come, first-served at 10am. Download the App from Todaytix, unlock the “Rush Ticketing” feature by sharing on Facebook or Twitter, and that will allow you to buy tickets.
Address: 4 Soho Place, London, W1D 3BG
Box Office: 0330 333 5961
More details: Seats to buy or avoid at this venue plus travel information and other details can be found on the @sohoplace page
