Just for One Day | Shaftesbury Theatre

Very few events in history have had the power to unite the entire world in a single moment in time, one immediately harkens back to the space race, the Berlin Wall falling, and more recently the September 11th attacks. None, though, have had more of an immensely positive, unifying, and innately powerful impact on so many than the 1985 Live Aid concerts arranged by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, the pair also behind the Band Aid Christmas single the previous year.

Just For One Day, penned by John O’Farrell with music by a plethora of well known 80s artists such as Queen, The Police, Wham, Madonna, Bob Dylan and David Bowie among others, is based on the real events of the Live Aid concerts that took place across London and Philadelphia on the 13th of July 1985. It is told from the perspective of Suzanne (played by Melissa Jacques, with young Suzanne portrayed by Hope Kenna), addressing her daughter Jemma (Fayth Ifil) who is studying Live Aid in a history class at school. Suzanne recalls her experience of attending the Wembley concert as a teenager, and just what it meant to so many people at the time.

The show is clearly set up to give us the feeling of being there during the event, and the constant we as an audience experience is that of a rock concert, made most evident through Gareth Owen’s soundscape, which is cranked right up to 11, however never feels excessive, as it works in the context of the setting. I have been to many a rock gig in my time, and the way in which Owen has captured the essence of this is staggering, as we don’t lose one bit of diction from our vocalists.

Lighting by Howard Hudson is equally as effective, and is already building suspense and intrigue even as we first enter the auditorium. Add into the mix Andrzej Goulding’s video and projections, and you have a true feast for both the eyes and ears, giving you the feeling of being there, in the moment, along with the plethora of others forty years ago. What was intriguing, and actually rather brilliant though, was having most of the songs sung, not by caricatures of the real artists, but by portrayed visions of the individuals who were either there or had a strong personal connection to the event in some way.

The quality of the vocals are out of this world, the ensemble cast does not have a single weak link, and all of them get their individual moments to shine and rock out. But the most endearing directorial choice was that they all present as themselves, instead of trying to do impressions of varying quality, which makes it feel much more authentic, and about the sense of collectivity and unity fuelled by the music, rather than being about the artists, which was absolutely the right choice. There were however a handful of real life figures being portrayed, with Julie Atherton’s bonkers, exaggerated depiction of prime minister Margaret Thatcher eliciting laughs galore, and her back and forth scenes with Geldof were brilliantly written and directed.

Reprising his role from the Old Vic, Craige Els’ portrayal of Bob Geldof is terrifically sardonic, perfectly capturing his charismatic cynicism and madcap unpredictability. On top of a masterful leading performance, his delivery of the Boomtown Rats classic I Don’t Like Mondays was an emotionally visceral moment, as we experience Geldof’s ecstasy of that instant through Els, that one moment in time where it felt like the whole world stood still, and it was difficult not to feel it move you profoundly, deep in your gut.

There is an element of conceit about the show’s presentation that does occasionally manifest, as this is a piece of theatre that never really relents in its expression of “look at what we did”, instead of giving the audience the benefit of the doubt and allowing us to revel in the events that unfurled. That said, there is still an enormous amount of heart on display, but above all else this is a celebration of the best of humanity, and a poignant love letter to rock and roll. Not only this, but a reminder than even one person with huge ambition can make a world of difference to so many.

Just for One Day plays at Shaftesbury Theatre until 10th January 2026.

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★★★★☆ (4*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Evan Zimmerman