Written and performed by award winning playwright Henry Naylor, Monstering the Rocketman is a gripping solo play about fame, power, press intrusion and the fight to reclaim the truth.
Tickets & Times
| Thu 10 Sep | 7:30 pm | {{spektrix_instance_id_341109ATRDQVCLDHQPSJRQGHGRBDJBNRG_status}} |
Henry Naylor
Monstering the Rocketman
Fringe First Winner 2025
Edinburgh Fringe Theatre Award Winner 2025
16 four and five star reviews at Edinburgh 2025
The true story behind Elton John’s explosive battle with The Sun.
In 1987, The Sun falsely accused Elton John of a series of lurid scandals. What followed was one of Britain’s biggest celebrity libel battles, as the world’s biggest pop star took on one of the country’s most powerful newspapers.
Written and performed by award winning playwright Henry Naylor, Monstering the Rocketman is a gripping solo play about fame, power, press intrusion and the fight to reclaim the truth.
Set against the excess and tabloid cruelty of the 1980s, this fast paced drama explores celebrity culture, media ethics, homophobia and one of the most sensational newspaper scandals of its time.
This is not a tribute show, but a sharp and compelling true story about the price of fame and the power of the press.
About the show
Monstering the Rocketman is the latest work from acclaimed playwright and performer Henry Naylor, whose plays have won major theatre awards and received international critical praise.
Following a sell out run at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it won a Fringe First Award and the Edinburgh Fringe Theatre Award, the production comes to The Kenton for one night only.
Powerful, gripping and darkly funny, it revisits a defining moment in British media history and asks urgent questions about truth, misinformation and who gets to control the story.
Audience information
Age guidance: 14+
Please note, Monstering the Rocketman is a theatre production based on real events. It explores themes including tabloid intrusion, celebrity culture, homophobia, misinformation and press ethics.
Prices include a £1.50 Booking Fee, a £1 Restoration Levy and a 25p Community Fund Levy.
Photo: Steve Ullathorne
Tickets & Times
| Thu 10 Sep | 7:30 pm | {{spektrix_instance_id_341109ATRDQVCLDHQPSJRQGHGRBDJBNRG_status}} |
Donate To The Kenton
Help The Kenton continue to bring the joy of live theatre to Henley-on-Thames.
Donate Now
Video Not Found
TOP REVIEWS
- ★★★★
Henry Naylor doesn’t hold back in his latest Fringe offering, an entertaining monologue in which he examines The Sun’s treatment of Elton John in the 1980s… Naylor tells the tale through the eyes of a keen young reporter hoping to make his mark.. …a riveting tale involving celebrity excess, the Aids crisis and press ethics.’
THE ARTS DESK - ★★★★★
a fast-paced dramatisation of one victim of 1980s tabloid cruelty… …a riveting performance that reminds us that claims of a golden age of good journalism before social media are a misrepresentation of history.
BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE - ★★★★
‘Henry Naylor is a triple Fringe First winner, and it is not hard to see why. This is precisely the sort of important piece that proves why the Fringe needs to exist.. …a strong performance, scaffolded by what is clearly a personal campaign to tackle the injustices meted out by the fourth estate’
BROADWAY BABY - ★★★★
The Eight Best Plays to See at the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe ‘Impressive… tackling major topical subject matter… ..casts a lacerating eye on scoop-chasing impetuosity.. A solo tour de force.’
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Dates, Times & Book
Kenton Theatre
You May Also Like
