Military Wives: The Musical review – joyful choir find strength through song

York Theatre Royal
Propulsive show with a sometimes cliched script takes inspiration from the choir formed by local women while their husbands were in Afghanistan

In writer-director Debbie Isitt’s new musical, the women of the title are surrounded by cardboard boxes. As Katie Lias’s set design makes clear, these are precarious lives, regularly packed up and moved from one military base to the next. The promise of the Military Wives Choirs – originated up the road from York Theatre Royal at Catterick Garrison and the subject of a BBC documentary and subsequent film from which this show takes inspiration – is that they offer connection in a rootless existence.

While based on the true story and hitting some of the same plot beats as Peter Cattaneo’s 2019 film, Isitt’s version has its own cast of fictional characters. The show quickly introduces us to a disparate group of women who are brought together when upbeat outsider Olive arrives to form a singing group for the wives while their partners are on a tour of duty in Afghanistan. Though it sacrifices the emotional heft of the movie’s central partnership, this take on the material adopts a fittingly ensemble approach, illustrating the power of community at the story’s heart.

At York Theatre Royal until 27 September