Phelim McDermott’s genre-defying meditation on Philip Glass has been rapturously received by the critics at @sohoplace, with reviews ranging from two five-star raves to a still-warm three stars.
The overwhelming consensus is that this is a singular, deeply moving piece of theatre. Where reviewers differ is not on whether McDermott’s playful, homemade theatrical craft is a joy (everyone agrees it is) but on whether the show’s structure and length fully do justice to it.
Part memoir, part concert and part meditation, Tao of Glass sees McDermott joined by three puppeteers and a four-piece band performing ten new compositions by Glass to trace his lifelong connection to the composer.
At the heart of it sits the story of a show they never made together: an adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen, derailed by Sendak’s death. First staged at Manchester International Festival in 2019, this is its London premiere.
The verdict: A near-universal triumph: a ravishing, deeply personal piece of theatrical magic, with only its pacing and length dividing an otherwise glowing critical response.
Critics’ Comparison
| Publication | Rating | The Key Takeaway |
| The Stage | ★★★★★ | An “absolute one-off” — a wonderfully personal, vividly theatrical homage that avoids self-indulgence through wit |
| The Guardian | ★★★★★ | A transcendent, joyful tapestry that mirrors Glass’s own music in its looping, evolving structure |
| WhatsOnStage | ★★★★ | A dazzling first act let down by a meandering, self-indulgent second half |
| Time Out | ★★★★ | A cheeky, deeply profound love letter to theatre itself |
| The Standard | ★★★★ | Beautiful and arguably profound, though its leisurely pace will frustrate some |
| The Telegraph | ★★★ | “So nearly excellent,” but let down by baggy editing and overlong wordless passages |
The reviews: what they loved about Tao of Glass
- The theatrical imagination. The Stage praised the “wildly imaginative use of giant pages of music-covered manuscript paper,” while the Guardian singled out a hooded philosopher conjured from a single sheet of manuscript and a piano’s inner mechanism doubling as the New York skyline.
- The show’s structural cleverness. The Guardian felt the non-linear structure mirrors Glass’s own compositional style, arguing “there’s no breadcrumb dropped that doesn’t lead us home.” Time Out compared McDermott’s storytelling technique to a composer working with a musical leitmotif.
- McDermott’s storytelling and stage presence. WhatsOnStage called the first act “a funny, nourishing… coming-of-age story,” while The Standard admired his “agreeable narrating presence.”
- A poignant late moment. The Standard highlighted a ten-minute sequence in which McDermott lies still on the revolving stage while a “ghost” recording of Glass plays, calling it quietly moving.
- The puppetry and design. The Telegraph praised the puppeteers’ “quiet magic,” built from a single sheet of stitched-together musical scores, while WhatsOnStage called the in-the-round staging “a stroke of brilliance.”
The reviews: what fell flat for Tao of Glass
- Pacing and length. WhatsOnStage felt the second half lost its narrative tension, becoming a “self-indulgent” listening party. The Telegraph agreed, citing “an increasing bagginess in the editing of the material.”
- Wordless passages. The Telegraph found her attention wandering during a lengthy, wordless section of shadow puppetry, arguing McDermott’s narration is the crucial ingredient the show needs to stay afloat.
- Accessibility of the philosophy. The Standard warned the show’s leisurely pace — “I’ve seen shorter Lears” — would exasperate some audiences, while the Telegraph felt the fascination with Eastern sacred texts isn’t always made accessible to the uninitiated.
- Some indulgence. Time Out felt McDermott’s enthusiasm for Taoist philosophy occasionally tips into “bloke-does-a-podcast” territory.
What are the critics saying about Tao of Glass?
"An absolute one-off, and a vividly theatrical one."
"Studies of the art of making art are usually best left to explanatory essays or DVD extras, since so inward a gaze tends to lose the creator in the land of self-indulgence. But performer, writer and co-director Phelim McDermott’s wonderfully personal musing on the music of Philip Glass is an outstanding exception"
"It's abundantly clear that he understands the unimportance of being earnest."
"...the affecting sincerity underpinning McDermott’s love letter holds the audience rapt."
"Tao of Glass starts by asking us where music comes from, but ends up showing where it can take us to."
"A transcendent tapestry suffused with joy and wonder."
"There’s a tear-jerker, a fourth wall in tatters, even a jump-scare. It’s all here."
"What looks baggy and absurd – like McDermott himself, covered in a fool’s motley of sheet music and sticky-tape – is anything but. There’s no breadcrumb dropped that doesn’t lead us home, no seed planted that doesn’t swell."
"A funny, nourishing… coming-of-age story that masterfully stops just short of twee."
"It’s fantastical and disarming in a way that normally seems out of reach for adult theatre."
"It's just a crying shame that the story runs out of steam just when it feels moments away from being extraordinary."
"Staging it in the round is a stroke of brilliance; the audience is now necessarily privy to both the magic of a puppet show, and the mechanics backstage, equally enchanting, as the stage turns on its axis."
"A cheeky show, and a fun show, and a deeply profound show."
"There isn't a single moment of it that could exist in any other form than theatre."
"In glorious Improbable style, sheets of music are scrunched into the shape of Glass himself, while torches make silhouettes that grow big and small, all under three concentric glowing rings which, in Fly Davis's design, ascend and descend in stately configurations."
"You can’t really fail to be enchanted by what he’s doing on stage, the simple magic of it."
"it's magic, and arguably profound."
"Fundamentally it's about acceptance — of age and death… and the unknowable mystery of where music comes from."
"This sort of associative, free-form, seat-of-the-pants creativity is central to McDermott’s practice and it’s what makes his work so interesting."
"A sense of wonder at the infinite creative possibilities life holds"
" The in-the-round auditorium of @sohoplace, in central London, offers the ideal setting for the myriad constituent elements of Tao of Glass to circle each other."
"So nearly excellent but, frustratingly, is let down by an increasing bagginess in the editing of the material."
@sohoplace Theatre, London
Related News
The toxic games begin: Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup in rehearsals for Virginia Woolf
Josh Dylan and Phoebe Horn join Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (and first look photos of rehearsals)
First look: the enchanting Tao of Glass at @sohoplace Theatre
11 best new shows opening in the West End in July 2026
Latest News
Broadway legend Patti LuPone returns to the London Coliseum for Valentine’s Day 2027
Helen of Troy never got to tell her side. Watch the trailer for the play that does
After a sell-out world tour, The Choir of Man returns to the West End this Christmas
