Beautiful Little Fool – Review

Beautiful Little Fool: Southwark Playhouse Borough, London

20th January 2026

★★★★

This UK premiere tells the story of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald through the eyes of their adult daughter Scottie. Beautiful Little Fool is directed by Tony Award nominated Michael Greif (‘Dear Evan Hansen’, ‘Next To Normal’, ‘Rent’), featuring music and lyrics by Hannah Corneau (‘Wicked’ Broadway, ‘Renascence’) and a powerful book by Mona Mansour.

What really stands out about this new musical is its emphasis on Zelda, in particular the treatment of women, mental health and their social status at that time. F. Scott Fitzgerald is notably a hugely successful writer now (sadly less so before his untimely death at age 44) but it seems his wife, Zelda, was more than just a muse – instead it seems likely that she herself actually wrote some pieces with him as a pair – and yet due to her status as a ‘house wife’ she was never shown any acclaim.

The show is a little slow to start with but quickly draws the audience in as Zelda and Francis’ relationship is told from the very start. During this performance Amy Parker took on the role of Zelda and was superb. Vocally she has a unique quality to her voice which matches the modern style of the score with plenty of riffs and jumping dynamics. The relationship between Zelda and her daughter, Scottie (Lauren Ward) is beautiful towards the end of the show and the emotion is tangible and honest. David Hunter plays a charming, yet slightly neurotic and anxious Francis. His vocals are excellent and it is just a shame that there are not more songs which he is featured in. Lauren Ward is powerful and yet vulnerable at the same time. Her role is almost to narrate and guide the audience through the story of her parents love, success and sadly their death. All of the cast are passionate and certainly put their full effort into telling the story.

The score by Hannah Corneau is contemporary yet still has some of the roaring twenties style. Most of the numbers are solo but there are some harmonies provided by the two ensemble members. The stage designed by Shankho Chaudhuri is split to two levels and is used well with superb lighting by Ben Stanton. The only slight issue may be that the onstage band are seated stage right which may mean that anyone sitting to the far left of the auditorium do not have as good view of the action. The set is made up of the family archives which then are transformed into many locations including dinner parties, their house in France and eventually the institution that Zelda spent her last years in. Most of this was seamlessly done with the use of the ensemble members with the actors remaining onstage for most of the show. Laura Hopkins’ costumes are in keeping with the time and era as is the script. The cast get changed onstage which at times can be a little distracting and unnecessary, particularly when there is enough time to exit the stage so that the audience can focus solely on the performance.

Overall, Beautiful Little Fool is a good biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda but it is more than that. It also raises the idea of the role of women and their creative voice. The songs are performed well and are very fitting with some very emotional moments, but unfortunately they are not that memorable. It’s always good to see new writing and Beautiful Little Fool is a nice little show and definitely worthy of a visit, especially for fans of Fitzgerald’s life and work.

Beautiful Little Fool plays at Southwark Playhouse, Borough until the 28th February 2026. For information and tickets click here.

Photo Credit: Pamela Raith