Teeth 'N' Smiles London — Harold Pinter Theatre Teeth 'N' Smiles

West End Play

Teeth 'N' Smiles Tickets

Rebecca Lucy Taylor. David Hare. One explosive night.

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The Story

Teeth ’n’ Smiles — London

50
Years since it shook the Royal Court
1969
Cambridge May Ball, the setting
1
Ivor Novello Award-winning star

Before the New York Dolls. Before Debbie Harry. Before Kurt Cobain. There was Maggie Frisby. Once the roaring voice of 60s counterculture, now broke and disillusioned, a rock band’s youthful dreams of anarchic rebellion have collapsed into bitterness. Amidst the wreckage, lead singer Maggie tears through the night fuelled by booze, fury, and a voice that refuses to die.

“Taylor is sensational as Maggie, full of self-loathing and fight in almost equal measure — when she sings, she is mesmeric, holding the audience in the grip of her hand.”
The Times

Cambridge, 1969. The Skins — a fraying rock band fronted by the charismatic but self-destructive Maggie — are 90 minutes late taking the stage at a May Ball. The fuse is blown. Nobody can be bothered to fix it. The posh boys and girls are getting restive. And Maggie is already on a collision course with her own annihilation. David Hare’s 1975 play — a blazing elegy for the 1960s and the idealism it promised but never delivered — gets its 50th anniversary West End revival, directed by Daniel Raggett with a production styled as a raw, Beckettian live gig.

The role of Maggie — originally played by Helen Mirren in a performance said to have modelled on Janis Joplin — is now taken by Rebecca Lucy Taylor, better known as Self Esteem. The Ivor Novello Award-winning singer-songwriter and West End debut actress (previously Sally Bowles in Cabaret) brings her own hard-won frustrations with the music industry to a role that fits like a second skin. Opposite her, Phil Daniels — Quadrophenia’s Jimmy, voice of Blur’s Parklife, House of the Dragon veteran — plays the sardonic manager Saraffian. Michael Fox (Downton Abbey) plays Arthur, the band’s sensitive songwriter.

The music is by Nick Bicât (music) and Tony Bicât (lyrics), with new additional songs written by Taylor herself, including the haunting solo number “Maggie’s Song”, which she performs alone with her guitar three-quarters of the way through.

Press Reviews

“Taylor is sensational as Maggie, full of self-loathing and fight in almost equal measure. When she sings she is mesmeric, holding the audience in the grip of her hand.”
The Times ★★★★
“Taylor quietly pulls off Maggie’s whirligig of shrewdness, sultry mystery and an unpredictability that manifests in acid putdowns of those in her orbit.”
LondonTheatre.co.uk ★★★★
“Taylor injects gigawatts of electricity into the room via showstopping vocals. There’s fun to be had in Raggett’s production, funnelling all attention onto Maggie’s slow-motion implosion.”
Broadway World ★★★
“David Hare’s 1975 play feels like the perfect showcase for Taylor’s warts-and-all honesty — half a century on, it still captures the vampiric nastiness of an industry that picks up musicians, tours them till they break, then declines to pick up the pieces.”
The Standard ★★★★

Notable Songs

★Last Orders on the Titanic
★Passing Through
★Close to Me
★Bastards
★Maggie’s Song  (new)
★Where’s the Party?

Tickets

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Theatre
Duke of York’s Theatre
104 St Martin’s Lane, London WC2N 4BG
Running Time
2 hrs 20 mins
Including a 20-minute interval
Age Recommendation
Ages 14+
Drug use, drug references & smoking on stage
Dates
Until 6 June 2026
Strictly limited 12-week season
Cancellation Policy
Full refunds
For event cancellations
Payments
Cashless venue
Contactless payments only at the theatre
On Arrival
Paperless or print-at-home tickets
Display on your phone or present a printed copy
When to Arrive
30 minutes before curtain
Latecomers may not be admitted until a suitable break

Production

Teeth ’n’ Smiles Cast & Creatives

Maggie Frisby
Rebecca Lucy Taylor
Self Esteem
Saraffian
Phil Daniels
Quadrophenia, Parklife
Arthur
Michael Fox
Downton Abbey
Nash
Bill Caple
Wilson
Michael Abubakar
Smegs
Samuel Jordan
Peyote
Jojo Macari
Masters of the Air
Inch
Noah Weatherby
Randolph
Joseph Evans
Laura
Aysha Kala
Snead
Christopher Patrick Nolan
Anson
Roman Asde

Please note: cast is subject to change without notice. For the latest casting information please check with the Duke of York’s Theatre or contact us on 020 3670 8887.

Venue

Getting to Duke of York’s Theatre

Duke of York’s Theatre  ·  104 St Martin’s Lane, London WC2N 4BG

LS
Leicester Square
Northern & Piccadilly lines. Walk south down St Martin’s Lane — the Duke of York’s is on your left.
3 min
CG
Covent Garden
Piccadilly line. Walk west along Long Acre, left onto Garrick Street, then left onto St Martin’s Lane.
6 min
CC
Charing Cross
Northern & Bakerloo lines. Walk north up St Martin’s Lane — the theatre is on your right.
5 min
CC
Charing Cross
Southeastern services. Exit onto the Strand, walk north up St Martin’s Lane — the theatre is on the right.
5 min
EL
Tottenham Court Road
Elizabeth line. Walk south down Charing Cross Road to Leicester Square, then along St Martin’s Lane.
10 min
VX
London Victoria
Take the tube to Charing Cross (one stop, Bakerloo line from Waterloo) or Leicester Square (Victoria to Green Park, then Piccadilly line).
20 min
Bus
St Martin’s Lane (direct)
Route 176 stops directly on St Martin’s Lane outside the theatre.
Door
Bus
Trafalgar Square
Routes 3, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15, 23, 24, 29, 87, 88, 91, 139, 159, 453 — alight at Trafalgar Square, 5-minute walk up St Martin’s Lane.
5 min
N
Night buses
N3, N9, N11, N15, N21, N29 serve Trafalgar Square and Charing Cross through the night.
24hr
Congestion Charge Zone
The theatre is within the CCZ. Charge applies Mon–Fri 7am–6pm, Sat–Sun 12pm–6pm. Check TfL for current rates.
NCP Trafalgar Square  · 5 min walk
Spring Gardens, SW1A 2TS. Open 24hrs. Walk north up St Martin’s Lane to the theatre.
Closest NCP to the Duke of York’s
Q-Park Chinatown  · 6 min walk
20 Newport Place, WC2H 7PR. Open 24hrs.