Jessie Ballard and Keily Sugayan play versions of themselves that swear that they became caught up in the January 6th insurrection by accident. What’s lovely is that it’s not really clear if they did become caught up by accident, or if they dipped their toes in right-wing waters and are frantically covering it up before it ruins their chances of making it on Broadway.

Both of them happen to have been born on January 6th, which means they only associate that day with positive things. They could never, ever imagine this day becoming problematic, so maybe that’s why they were oblivious to any news reports of expected unrest, or the conspiracy theories being posted on social media?

Somehow they thought that they would combine their birthday with a trip to Washington D.C. to cosplay a US president and an assassin. They mistake a mob for an audience, and are arrested by cops who mistake their historical street theatre for a political speech. They believe it should be obvious that they are queer thespians, but the one thing they cite in evidence is shared by Fox News presenters.

On the other hand, it’s plausible that they are clueless and self-absorbed enough to blunder into a career-damaging scandal before they have a career. Like most classic double acts, they seem doomed to fail, endlessly repeating the same mistakes, but never letting go of their thwarted dreams. Instead, the conflict comes from their clashing personalities. Jessie is loud and reckless, Keily is weedy and wedded to her planner.

Whether playing cops, trying to charm cops, or twirling around with their arms like plane wings, their characters maintain a starry-eyed innocence and a sweaty faith in their power to turn adversity into a showstopper. The performances are strong enough to make up for a weak script. With less energy and charm some of the scenes would have outstayed their welcome; one in particular would have become unbearably tiresome after the first bit of wordplay.

Conversely, with only five songs, one of them a rendition of the national anthem sung by the audience, they could stand to add a few more. The gawky but earnest choreography is worthy of a bigger production and by keeping most of the political content confined to a sombre voiceover only the most fanatical audiences would be offended.

The flaws don’t spoil the fun. It’s a hugely entertaining and well worth catching.

January 6th the Musical is at Studio at theSpaceTriplex until Sat 29 Aug 2026