Elton John’s explosive battle with The Sun comes to The Kenton

In 1987, Elton John took on one of Britain’s most powerful newspapers and won.

This September, the extraordinary true story behind that battle comes to The Kenton in Monstering the Rocketman, a gripping and darkly funny one man show from award winning playwright Henry Naylor.

Following a sell out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the production explores the moment Elton John decided to fight back against a relentless tabloid campaign that falsely accused him of a series of lurid scandals.

What followed became one of the most dramatic celebrity libel cases of the 1980s, as the world’s biggest pop star went head to head with Britain’s biggest selling newspaper.

Through sharp storytelling, outrageous headlines and moments that are almost too extraordinary to believe, Monstering the Rocketman reveals how The Sun pursued celebrity stories at any cost, while also exploring the homophobia, press intrusion and appetite for scandal that defined an era of tabloid journalism.

But this is not a dry courtroom drama. Henry Naylor brings wit, pace and plenty of laughs to a story filled with crass headlines, jaw dropping claims and one of the most remarkable celebrity battles in British media history.

Audiences do not need to be Elton John superfans to enjoy the show. At its heart, this is a compelling true story about fame, power, truth and what happens when one person refuses to let the press control the narrative.

Monstering the Rocketman comes to The Kenton Theatre on Thursday 10 September at 7.30pm.

Tickets are available now from The Kenton Box Office.