This week, London's Duke of York Theatre proudly unveiled Stereophonic, the highly anticipated musical that recently set a new record for the most Tony Awards won during its Broadway run.

Written by David Adjmi, with songs by Will Butler of Arcade Fire, this heavily buzzed production takes you on a wild ride through the day-to-day of five rock musicians making an album in the early 70s. The story itself is one of infighting, frustration, romance, and rock'n'roll (all the things you'd expect from a disagreeing 70's band). David Adjmi notes he drew inspiration from iconic band Fleetwood Mac and came up with the idea while listening to Led Zepplin and pondering "What would it have been like to be in the studio when this was being recorded?".

Find out what the critics thought of this exciting new opening below!

REVIEWS

The Financial Times

"David Adjmi's superb, gorgeously textured drama which scooped a hatful of Tony Awards after its first New York run and is brilliantly staged here by Daniel Aukin and an outstanding cast sinks us into the creative fever dream that follows, as weeks spool into months and the makeshift family of artists tears itself apart in pursuit of perfection."

"None of it would work without an exceptional cast, all of whom play or sing, and all of whom trace their characters' shifting emotional states in incremental, often understated detail."

The Guardian

"This stunningly rendered tale of a band on the brink of creative genius or total meltdown is a triumph, with a standout cast and score"

"Director Daniel Aukin's production is as exacting and truthful as the script itself. Sounds and voices overlap as mic channels are opened and closed; silences are underscored with boredom and exhaustion. In between the kit-tinkering and longueurs are moments of creative transcendence, including a late-night epiphany so electrifying that the sound waves will excite your internal organs."

What's On Stage

"It is almost existential in its concerns, yet its overlapping, quickfire dialogue is both funny, pungent and entirely naturalistic. I think it is a masterpiece. Its cleverness lies in the way that David Zinn's set places the action entirely within the confines of a recording studio."

"The action is teased out slowly, over three hours. You can see where scenes could be cut. But this immersive detail, of something being made as you watch and listen, means that Stereophonic gradually accrues significance. Daniel Aukin's gently controlled direction and the tautness of the writing, let the play's significance shine in the gaps between the music. It doesn't tell you about its characters; it shows you the effect of their personalities."

The Evening Standard

"The show captures the sleepless grind and tedium of recording but also the euphoria when the sound comes together. And it's full of delightful, random tangents about custard and peacocks, Don't Look Now vs Last Tango in Paris. Stereophonic is hugely engrossing and enjoyable, but like the band's album, it could lose a few fiddly bits and a few minutes."

The Independent

"It's slow-moving and intense, the stasis only broken by carefully rationed bursts of music by Arcade Fire's Will Butler."

"These songs are private things, Adjmi shows us, scrawled in a diary in a moment of pain, trying to reach places ordinary words can't reach. We shouldn't really watch but we can't look away."