The incredible story of The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind

Cast members of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Photo by Tyler Fayose.

A New Musical - The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind at The Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until 28 March 2026. Book and lyrics by Richy Hughes, Music and Lyrics by Tim Sutton. Adapted from and based on the book by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer and Potboiler Productions Film. Director Lynette Linton.

Review by Ann Evans,

WOW! What a show! What a story! And what brilliant performances by all the cast!

The Boy who harnessed the wind is the true story of 13-year-old William Kamkwamba who lived in the village of Wimbe, Malawi in south-east Africa. The story takes place around 2009; William’s father, a proud farmer is struggling to make a living from the earth, constantly at the mercy of extreme weather with flooding and droughts.

Home is a wooden shack where William lived with his parents Trywell and Agnes, and older sister Annie, all played beautifully by Sifiso Mazibuko, Madeline Appiah and Tsemaye Bob-Egbe respectively. A great performance also from William played by Alistair Nwachukwu.

Annie and William Kamkwamba (Tsemaye Bob-Egbe and Alistair Nwachukwu). Photo by Tyler Fayose.

William was different from his friends, he was inquisitive and inventive, eager to learn about everything scientific. He was excited to be going to a secondary school, even though his family couldn’t afford the fees. However, it wasn’t long before he was stopped from attending school through lack of money. Ever resourceful, he taught himself about electrical engineering by reading books from the school library.

The Company of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Photo by Tyler Fayose.

One day he had a Eureka moment when seeing how a dynamo on a bicycle when pedalled would generate enough electricity to make the bicycle lamp work. This inspired him to try and build a wind turbine or windmill that would generate enough electricity to power a water pump and irrigate the crops. No one in his village thought it would work. In particular his father could not see the sense in him wasting his time building crazy useless gadgets when there was work to be done on the land.

Khamba takes on Hyena. Photo by Tyler Fayose.

One particularly bad winter after the harvest had failed, people were starving, and William was more desperate than ever to build his wind turbine. He didn’t waver in his belief that it would work. Eventually, he convinced his friends – and finally and most importantly, convinced his father.

I won’t go into any more detail about the story, except to say that if you get the chance to see this production you won’t be disappointed. This talented cast creates the sounds and the look of Malawi so well, bringing an authentic feel of Africa to the RSC stage. The production crew have created a setting that lives and breathes Africa with amazing special effects, especially when creating a tropical storm.

William's parents played by Madeline Appiah and Sifiso Mazibuko. Photo by Tyler Fayose.

Alistair Nwachukwu is so believable as William, and there’s a wonderful moment towards the end of the play, when we see film footage of the real William Kamkwamba, and Alistair poignantly echoes the words spoken on film. Other powerful performances come from his father played by Sifiso Mazibuko; his mother, Madeline Appiah and I must mention the incredible singing voice of his sister played by Tsemaye Bob-Egbe and Choolwe Laina Muntanga who plays the wind. 

William's friends, especially his best friend Gilbert played with a great sense of fun by Idriss Kargbo bring lots of humour - and some massively energetic dancing to the show; and from start to finish the music and singing of the cast just raises the roof.

Classmates with William (Alistair Nwachukwu), his best friend Gilbert (Idriss Kargbo) and head teacher (Newton Matthews) Photo by Tyler Fayose.

As for the dancing and the energy by every cast member, that was just wonderful - great choreography by Shelley Maxwell. And finally, a mention to two characters who don’t speak at all but create such emotion on stage every time they appeared. These are Shaka Kalokoh who plays Hyena – representing famine; and Khamba – William’s other best friend – a stray dog. Khamba (a puppet) is brought to life by puppeteer Yana Penrose.

The first half of this play is amazing but Act 2 takes it to another level as the story progresses reaching a fabulous climax and the cast totally deserved the immediate standing ovation they received from the audience. A brilliant show, an incredible story and outstanding performers.

Chief Wimbe (McCallam Connell).Photo by Tyler Fayose.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is at the Swan Theatre, Stratfordupon-Avon until 28 March, and then at Soho Place, London from 25 April to 18 July. For tickets call the RSC Box Office on 01789 331111 or go to: https://www.rsc.org.uk/the-boy-who-harnessed-the-wind