The reviews are in for Nero, the musical about Rome’s most notorious emperor from Spring Awakening writers Steven Sater and the late Duncan Sheik, now at Southwark Playhouse Elephant with Andrew Barth Feldman in the title role. Twenty-three years in development did not buy it an easy press night. Most critics find a show that cannot decide whether it is satire, tragedy or camp comedy, and Sater’s book takes most of the blame. Feldman, though, comes out well almost everywhere, as do Sally Dexter’s Agrippina and Rhianne-Louise McCaulsky’s Poppea.
2.2 / 5 from 9 criticsThe verdict: ten reviews so far, nine of them rated (The Times sits behind its paywall): one four-star notice, two at three stars, four at two and two at one, an average of 2.2 out of 5. The book and the show’s shifting tone take most of the blame. Andrew Barth Feldman is the one thing nearly every critic agrees on.
What are critics saying about NERO?
Theatre and Tonic
Reviewer: Amelia
Amelia is the warmest voice in the field, with high praise for Andrew Barth Feldman’s scandalous, mischievous Nero and for Rhianne-Louise McCaulsky’s Poppea.
"Overall, I think Nero is a strong piece of theatre."
A little more context and a fuller set would have helped, but James Cousins’ choreography and the costumes are highlights, and the review sees room for the show to grow.
The Spy in the Stalls
"As messy as life itself, and like life itself, ‘Nero’ is to be celebrated."
Reviewer: Jonathan Evans
Evans compares the show to one of Shakespeare’s problem plays, a piece that refuses any tidy classification.
"Sater’s book is more disordered, although the performances lend it enough cohesion for us to forgive the lack of direction in the narrative."
For Evans, Duncan Sheik’s eclectic score, from bossa nova to smoky blues, is what holds it together.
All That Dazzles
Reviewer: Daz Gale
Gale’s main complaint is tone: the show swings between farce and tragedy, and the book needs the most work.
"one aspect of NERO that needs no improvement is that of its faultless cast"
Gale finds a strong score with a couple of duds and questions the sightlines, but saves the biggest praise for the cast, Feldman above all.
LondonTheatre.co.uk
"The formidably cruel Roman Emperor becomes a musical star"
Reviewer: Matt Wolf
Wolf sees obvious present-day echoes in a ruler of vanity and excess, but misses a guiding vision to shape the material.
"Twenty-three years in creation haven’t made a satisfying entity of Nero"
Wolf credits a tireless Feldman and hears flashes of the Spring Awakening composer in the score, but neither the direction nor the book settles on a style.
BroadwayWorld
"The new musical from the creators of Spring Awakening is baffling"
Reviewer: Katie Kirkpatrick
Kirkpatrick finds the tone confused from the first scene, with the book’s present-day political jabs landing too heavily.
"From the book to the costuming, Nero struggles to find any tonal consistency."
The handling of its darkest material is uncomfortable too, though Kirkpatrick praises Feldman, Sally Dexter’s Agrippina and Stephen Carlile’s Seneca in a strong cast.
Everything Theatre
"A talented cast and some terrific songs can't quite rescue this ambitious but muddled musical"
Reviewer: Mike Carter
Carter thinks the satire is the show’s strongest suit, but it keeps being swamped by melodrama, and the mix of Roman costume, pistols and contemporary language confuses more than it sharpens.
"leaving a talented cast and some terrific songs fiddling away while the show burns around them."
Carter enjoys several songs, especially in the second act, and has kind words for Feldman, Dexter and McCaulsky.
LondonTheatre1
Reviewer: Chris Omaweng
Omaweng reads the run as a tribute to Sheik, but finds a show caught between registers.
"Unfortunately, it fails to ‘mind the gap’ between tragedy and comedy, falling between the two."
He thinks the production was staged as if for a proscenium rather than the venue’s thrust, and finds its gestures at modern relevance heavy-handed.
Theatre Weekly
"were the creative team so busy fiddling with Nero's development that they failed to notice the show itself was burning?"
Reviewer: Greg Stewart
Stewart is among the harshest critics, finding a jumble of competing ideas that lurches between broad comedy and historical tragedy.
"it’s hard not to wonder how this UK premiere has emerged as such an unholy mess."
Most of the blame goes to the book; the sparse design does little to help, and the score is undermined by the material around it.
The Reviews Hub
"Why, why, why?"
Reviewer: Maryam Philpott
Philpott finds the show muddled from scene to scene, unsure what it wants to be, with a score that hops across half a dozen styles and characters drawn so thinly they become cartoons.
"Andrew Barth Feldman actually makes quite a lot of Nero, a real star performance"
Feldman is the exception: Philpott calls his Nero strangely compelling, a star turn carried through to the end.
Also reviewed by: The Times (Rachel Halliburton, "Nero review — a depraved emperor’s downfall could have become a great show"), whose review sits behind a paywall.
For the story of how the show reached London, see everything you need to know about Nero, and hear Feldman’s eleven o’clock number in our first listen to And Now He Hounds the Night.
Nero is booking at Southwark Playhouse Elephant until Saturday 5 December 2026.
