Friends The Musical Parody – Bord Gáis Energy Theatre – Review
by Fran Winston

21 – 25 October 2025
Bord Gais Energy Theatre until Saturday, October 25. Tickets from €24.50

This is the one where one of the most popular sitcoms of all time gets the stage musical treatment. Despite the last episode of Friends broadcasting in May 2004, the show retains its popularity and has been discovered by new generations thanks to syndication and streaming. It may have been criticised lately for a lack of diversity, but clearly that isn’t enough to make people switch off.

If you’ve never seen the show, this review may not make much sense to you as this musical parody does what it says on the tin, bringing the beloved characters of Rachel Green, Phoebe Buffay, Chandler Bing, Joey Tribbiani and siblings Ross and Monica Gellar back to life for a whirlwind trip through all ten seasons of the show.

With it’s tongue firmly in its cheek it address issues such as how on earth Monica managed to afford such a huge apartment, the fact that they spent so much time in the coffee shop Central Perk yet never seemed to pay for anything and the way they all seemed to be in Monica’s apartment for breakfast every day despite only she and Rachel living there. Of course, these were all contrived scenarios for the TV show, but they make for great comedy.

They also draw on some of the show’s peripheral characters, mining them to the max for laughs. Coffee shop stalwart Gunther finally gets his moment in the spotlight. As does Chandler’s annoying girlfriend Janice (whose standalone song OMG It’s Janice is a toe-tapping banger).

Familiar and much-loved storylines such as Ross’ getting fired because someone ate his sandwich and Monica’s “fat” throwbacks are all covered as the cast charge through the high-energy numbers.

Unlike the TV show, which had censorship restrictions, there are one or two “fruitier” moments in the stage production, and as such, the age guidance is 13+ for this show. Indeed, I was surprised to see some far younger children there the night I attended, and I imagine their parents had a few questions to answer afterwards.

Due to musical rights, they can’t use the famous theme song or Phoebe’s signature tune Smelly Cat but they do find clever ways around this, managing to inject a familiarity into the original songs.

However, no matter how good a show like this is, it lives or dies by the cast, given how well the characters are known. Overall, they did do a great job, but special mention must go to Eva Hope, who had Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel ticks down to a tee. Alicia Belgrade was possibly more Monica than Courtney Cox. And Daniel Parkinson had Chandler Bing spot on and could easily step into the late Matthew Perry’s shoes should the show ever do a reunion.

You will definitely get far more from this if you are a fan of the TV series, and it appeared everyone was on the night I attended. Some specific references and scenes would not be as funny if you don’t know the source material.

The songs are wonderfully witty, and it is impossible not to leave this show with a smile on your face. It may not be high art, but it is extremely entertaining. As an added bonus, fans can also get their picture taken on the famous sofa in the theatre lobby before the show. But get there early as the queue builds quickly!