Death Note is one of the most successful mangas ever published. Turned into an anime TV series that ran from 2006 to 2007, it has also birthed a series of video games, three live-action films and further miniseries… oh, and a musical. That musical is back in London for 2026 after a successful 2023 run at the Palladium Lyric Theatre.
This time, Death Note has moved into The Barbican Centre until September 12th. Starring Xander Pang as protagonist Light, who finds a notebook dropped by the gods of death, and BBC star Colin Ryan as L, the detective assigned to catch Light, the pop-rock extravaganza takes everything you love about the manga and anime and turns it into a modern opera.
If you’re a newcomer to Death Note, here is the plot in a nutshell. Light finds a notebook dropped by shinigami (god of death) Ryuk, who tosses it into the human world to cause a bit of chaos. Every person named by Light in that notebook will die, as long as he can also picture their face.
Soon Light is desperate to carry out his own version of vigilante justice, and sets about naming and killing criminals who never got what they deserved. But things soon get out of hand, launching a major police investigation, with eccentric and genius detective L dragged in to clean up the mess.
Death Note has everything – impressive, dynamic sets; powerful rock ballads; tight choreography. There are some dance numbers that genuinely felt like being at a huge pop concert, turning the 1970s brutalist Barbican into an arena.
As a newbie to anime in general and Death Note specifically, I was actually surprised at how easy it was to follow the story. The plot is engaging, with plenty of twists and turns along the way – and no spoilers, but your loyalties will jump from character to character as the show goes on.
Colin Ryan is a standout member of the cast here – at no point did I see him as the same actor who had once appeared in Doctor Who. He completely transforms into his character of L, disappearing into the baggy jumper and jeans right until he takes his final bow.
It’s Stephanie Zaharis as pop star Misa Amane who gives the best vocal performance, though, and as she belted her way through When Love Comes while tied to an interrogation chair, I could feel goosebumps running up and down my arms.
The songs are, however, where things fall a bit flat. Other than Light’s powerful solo Hurricane, each song tends to blend into the other, and some – especially Misa’s during her concert – are rather weak vocally. This could be to do with the fact that the English musical has been translated from the original Japanese and Korean, the languages it debuted in back in 2015.
Still, if you fancy a rock-style show with moving sets and some very impressive performances, Death Note isn’t one to miss.