Hi everyone! This is a post I have been wanting to write for a really long time, but since I didn’t have this blog, well, I just hadn’t. I recently got the news that The Lord Of The Rings: A Musical Tale was going to go be played in US and NZ next, which has given me the perfect excuse to write about it and hopefully convince some people to go see it too.


A long while ago, some amazing folk produced a LOTR musical, which was played in a theatre in London. But apparently, the critics weren’t great and it wasn’t particularly successful. Fast-forward a few years and someone thought of bringing this play back to life, but decided to give it a bit of a twist and make the experience a lot more immersive, intimate and unique, by using a cozy theatre built inside an old mill instead of one of London’s massive ones.

When I saw the play advertised, I immediately signed-up for their mailing list to have priority access to tickets. I was so excited to see LOTR brought to life by real people right in front of me! When tickets finally went on sale, I decided to buy my partner and I two tickets each: one for the initial week in July in the sleeve, which was cheaper as it is considered a kind of rehearsal and the very especial day of Bilbo’s birthday in September, in the circle, which promised to include a hobbit feast as well.

We, of course, decided we would go dressed as hobbits for both of them, grasping any opportunity we had to do so.

When we arrived to the Mill in July, I was incredibly excited. We were welcomed by a lady which checked our tickets and was also selling some hand-made wicker rings as merchandise from the event (we bought two on each play!). Then we sat down near a big round stage they had in the garden. It was a beautiful and sunny day, perfect for some outdoors adventuring.

Two people dressed as hobbits jumping through a large wicker ring

The play started in that outdoors stage, where the hobbits sang songs and celebrated Bilbo’s birthday, and we really felt like we were in the middle of the Shire celebrating with them. Everything was accompanied by music coming from a lot of instruments that the same actors played, and their singing. I felt really enchanted by the incredible melodies and songs.

After Bilbo put on the ring and vanished, we moved inside the Mill itself for the next chapter of the story. The theatre was very small, but they had made very good use of the space. Everything had been beautifully decorated and the same decorations opened, moved or changed shape depending on the scene.

The production left me absolutely speechless, from all the incredible actors, the puppets, the music, how it was all put together. I was particularly impressed with Gollum, who constantly and tirelessly climbed ladders on the sides of the theatre (we only had to reach our hand to touch him!) and the hobbits, who had as much courage and mischief as I would have expected. There was also an immense attention to detail, which turned it even more an immersive experience.

At the end, when the hobbits go back to the Shire, we went to the outer stage again for the end, and as we were leaving, they gave us a bag of wildflower seeds with a stamp that said “Rewild the Shire”, again another incredibly beautiful and thoughtful little detail. I am not going to lie in that I used that idea for my own wedding.

Large roup of people dressed as LOTR characters'

If that wasn’t already great, the September one was ten times better. Not necessarily because the play was better, but because we met a few amazing people and truly Tolkien fans that had come all the way from the States to be there for Bilbo’s birthday. We enjoyed a nice pre-play meal in the outside all together and we are still in touch to this day. There were also many other people dressed-up on that day (we were the only ones in July), and we seized the opportunity to take a few pictures all together, united by our passion for Tolkien.

Three people dressed as LOTR characters'

Unfortunately, being the UK, it started raining pretty heavily for the beginning of the play, and although they waited for a while to try make it happen, it was clear the rain wasn’t gonna give up and we were moved inside. I think all of the actors were even more sad about it than us.

The outdoors stage, with a large sign that says 'Happy birthday Bilbo'

It was very interesting to see the stage from a completely different angle, and it let us see details that we missed the first time, but all in all, I think I preferred the view from the cheap sleeve seats, even if our necks weren’t particularly fond of it! At the end of the second act, the weather had improved and we went outside for the finale. Being a especial date as it was, half of the actors ended up shedding quite a few tears and so did we, it was very emotive.

We stayed behind afterwards, accompanying a couple of the people that we had met that day, as one of them had made personalised bracelets for all of the main characters. So we waited in the Mill’s bar until they got changed and started coming in, and we gently directed towards our new friend for introductions and getting their bracelet. We also chatted for a while to some of them, some of which had been big Tolkien fans from before the play, and being accepted into it had been like a dream come true. They told us about the intricacies of making and participating in a production like that and how it could be quite exhausting but also incredibly exciting.

Once all of them got their bracelets, we went back home all full of happiness and feeling like that had been one of the best days of our lives.

So, if you like LOTR as much as I do and you are able to travel our would like to enjoy some beautiful Middle-Earth based music, go check it out!