Gutsy life-affirming show has Feelgood factor
Wilko: Love and Death and Rock ’n’ Roll by Jonathan Maitland at the Belgrade Theatre until 9 September 2026
Review by Amanda Burden
I know very little about Dr Feelgood. This is not something I am proud of. In fact, when I invited my brother to see Wilko: Love and Death and Rock ’n’ Roll, he reminded me of a conversation from last year in which we discovered our combined knowledge of this band amounted largely to knowing that they once had a song called Milk and Alcohol.
This prompted questions. Why would milk and alcohol be bedfellows? Was this a song about the aftermath of a particularly raucous night out? Was it a cry for calcium? Was it a cautionary tale about having an ill-advised Baileys after midnight? Or was it a tribute to a wished-for colab between United Dairies and Smirnoff?
Research revealed that Milk and Alcohol actually refers to a Brandy Alexander-esque cocktail involving both - you’ve guessed it- alcohol, cream and milk. This was duly sampled with good effect at Christmas.
But I digress.
Wilko Johnson - real name John Wilkinson - was the founder and guitarist of Dr Feelgood, the Essex pub-rock band whose raw, stripped-back sound helped pave the way for punk. He later found a whole new audience through his role as Ser Ilyn Payne in Game of Thrones. But the central story is the amazing period in 2012 when Wilko was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and told that he had approximately a year to live.
Faced with that bombshell, he vowed to make the most of the time he had left. And then - in a magnificent plot twist worthy of It's A Wonderful Life - the terminal cancer turned out not to be terminal after all. It is an extraordinary story: mortality, music, love, fame, regret, family and the possibility of second chances. There is a lot to work with. And there is plenty in this production to enjoy.
Johnson Willis, the heart of the show, captures Wilko's distinctive physicality brilliantly - the intense stare, jerky movements, guitar-toting duck-walking swagger - and clearly has huge affection for the character he is playing. which helps to convey exactly why Wilko Johnson himself was known as such a compelling performer.
He excels in the second act. when the aggressive stage strut gives way to vulnerability as Wilko is forced to confront his mortality and reflect on his life. His performance, sometimes furious, sometimes vulnerable, was genuinely tear-jerking.
I found myself wanting more of these. Not because what was there wasn't impactful, but because the character is so fascinating that I wanted to spend longer with him.
The challenge was that the production told a very big story in a relatively short space of time. It moved rapidly through Wilko's childhood, education, early musical career, marriage, Dr Feelgood, fame, relationships and cancer diagnosis, before arriving at his incredible second chance.
That is quite a life to fit into one show and the pay-off was that sometimes the transitions between his life stages felt spiky and the dialogue a little forced. For me, the most powerful material was the material that trusted the audience to get the point rather than signposting exactly what he was feeling. Georgina Fairbanks as Wilko's wife Irene delivered a knockout performance, providing the perfect spotlight on the contrast between the Wilko the public knew – charismatic, eccentric, larger than life - and the private man who could be complicated and difficult. The live music is also a highlight. Jon House, playing Lee Brilleaux, is impressive in both stage presence and musicality, and the scenes between Willis and House are a joy to watch.
For me, although the show did not always quite find perfect cohesion between its different elements, it was a powerful, inspiring and life-affirming celebration of a clearly exceptional performer. And it led to me discovering another fascinating Milk and Alcohol-related fact: Wilko Johnson did not actually PLAY on M&A. They recorded it after he left. That will not, however, stop us toasting him with a Brandy Alexander this Christmas. I think it's what he would have wanted.
For tickets: https://www.belgrade.co.uk/events/wilko/
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