Rudy's Rare Records – reviews of 'feel-good' reggae comedy

What you need to know

Music comedy, Rudy's Rare Records, has transferred to the Hackney Empire, London from the Birmingham Rep. The stage show, based on the BBC Radio 4 sitcom, is written by Danny Robbins and stars Lenny Henry who also assisted with the script.

Set in an old reggae record shop in Birmingham, run by ageing Jamaican proprietor Rudy Sharpe, it explores the family dynamics between grandfather Rudy, his long-suffering son Adam (Henry), and teenage grandson Richie, as the shop comes under threat from developers and the internet.

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Paulette Randall directs Larrington Walker as Rudy, with a live on-stage band playing tracks from Desmond Dekker, Toots and the Maytals, Jimmy Cliff and the Sugarhill Gang. Runs until 5 October.

What the critics like

Robins and Henry have created an "extremely funny and shrewd cross between a state-of-the-nation take on multi-racial Britain and contagiously joyous juke box musical", says Paul Taylor in The Independent. A delight from start to finish.

This stage adaptation is "a feel-good show packed with snappy one-liners from a gaggle of intelligently drawn characters", says Naima Khan on the Arts Desk. It features a host of infectious tunes and some keen observations about the emotional consequences of social mobility, while happily staying light-hearted all the while.

The sitcom-ish gags flow thick and fast in this "wonderful, funny, humane, live reggae-saturated play", says Dominic Cavendish in the Daily Telegraph. There's a fine ensemble cast, and Henry gives a nicely understated account of a man contending with his family and his own mid-life crises.

What they don't like

The drama can be formulaic and the familiar musical numbers that dominate the second half are "not the rare grooves that the title calls to mind", says Henry Hitchings in the Evening Standard. But they are delivered with raw enthusiasm and the cast's sheer likeability ensures big-hearted entertainment.