Rebecca Lucy Taylor at Duke Of York’s Theatre Sparks West End Revival of Teeth ‘n’ Smiles
Rebecca Lucy Taylor leads a 50th-anniversary West End revival of David Hare’s Teeth ‘n’ Smiles at the Duke of York’s Theatre, a production that opens with fresh material from the actor and singer-songwriter and runs from 13 March to 6 June 2026.
Rebecca Lucy Taylor Leads the Revival
The new staging puts Rebecca Lucy Taylor in the demanding central role of Maggie Frisby, the charismatic frontwoman of a disintegrating rock band. In addition to performing, she contributes new original songs to the production’s score, joining the existing music by Nick Bicât and lyrics by Tony Bicât. The creative decision to blend new compositions with the play’s established music is a key element of the revival.
What the Play Portrays
David Hare’s play follows Maggie Frisby and her band as they turn up late and exhausted to a May Ball performance at Cambridge University, playing to an indifferent or hostile crowd. The characters are portrayed as financially and emotionally drained, fuelled by alcohol and resentment, with Maggie’s voice remaining a focal point amid the chaos. Hare has described the work as being about the “fag-end of idealism, ” exploring the souring of utopian impulses and the addictive pursuit of experience once that vitality has faded.
Production Context and Legacy
This West End revival marks the play’s 50th anniversary. Teeth ‘n’ Smiles was first staged at the Royal Court Theatre in 1975 and transferred to the West End the following year; the original production cast the role of Maggie with Helen Mirren. The play has surfaced in professional revivals intermittently, including a noted production in Sheffield in 2002. The Duke of York’s Theatre, which seats about 640 audience members, hosts this limited run and has previously presented premieres of other plays by the same playwright.
The current staging assembles a new ensemble under a director who has worked on recent West End revivals, and the revival’s creative approach aims to reconnect the play’s late-1960s setting and its themes of disillusionment with contemporary audiences. The play’s mix of theatrical probing and rock concert energy—an element Hare conceived early in the play’s history—remains central to its presentation, with at least one song from the original score, “Last Orders on the Titanic, ” still in the lineup and described as haunting in tone.
Hare has expressed enthusiasm for the new cast and their work in reviving a piece he says once “shook the plaster off the ceiling” of its first venue. The production’s combination of a celebrated modern performer taking on a pivotal dramatic-musical role and the insertion of freshly written material is positioned as the most immediate development for audiences and critics following the opening.
With its limited run scheduled through early June, the revival invites renewed examination of the play’s themes about the decline of youthful idealism, the pressures on women in music, and the theatrical possibilities of combining rock performance with dramatic narrative. Further critical and audience responses will determine how the new songs and casting choices reshape reception of a play now half a century old.
