Boy Who Harnessed the Wind Musical Plays London
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- The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind musical is playing at @sohoplace in London until 18 July, adapted from William Kamkwamba's real-life 2001 account of building a windmill from scrapyard materials in famine-stricken Wimbe, Malawi.
- Alistair Nwachukwu plays a 13-year-old William who dropped out of school for lack of funds, then sourced parts from scrapyards and borrowed library books to construct a windmill providing electricity to his village.
- Sifiso Mazibuko plays farmer Trywell in a performance the reviewer calls standout, walking "a delicate line between a tragic and infuriating" portrayal of a father torn between paying for his son's education and needing his hands on the farm.
- Tsemaye Bob-Egbe plays older sister Annie, whose own scientific ambitions compete with expectations and her relationship with science teacher Mike (Tad Hapaguti), while Idriss Kargbo plays best friend Gilbert, the village chief's son thrust into crisis.
- The musical's songs are described as "pleasant but forgettable" despite vocal work from Mazibuko, Bob-Egbe, and Choolwe Laina Muntanga (who plays the personification of the wind).
- Choreography and animal puppets draw praise, particularly in the "most dramatic number," One Less (The Hyena), which the reviewer credits with surprising pathos.
Why it matters: The musical runs only until 18 July at London's @sohoplace, offering theatergoers a limited-window staging of Kamkwamba's globally known memoir — anchored by Mazibuko's praise-winning portrayal of the father, with the reviewer concluding that choreography and character carry the show where its "forgettable" songs do not.
