One of history's greatest composers comes face-to-face with one of Europe's most powerful rulers...but how far will an artist go when their work is at the mercy of those in charge? Written by Oliver Cotton and directed by legendary theatre-maker Trevor Nunn (Les Miserables, Cats), this gripping new play stars Brian Cox (Succession) as Johann Sebastian Bach. 

Set in 1747, Bach reluctantly travels to the court of Frederick II, where the ambitious king presents him with a musical puzzle that forces the composer to decide whether he can meet the challenge without compromising his own morality.

With Cox bringing what The Times called a "volcanic presence" to Bach, The Score is the only American engagement of this production. But what did the critics make of it?

Let's see what they had to say...

BOOK TICKETS

The Score Critic Reviews

"The hair on the back of your neck stands up when Cox's Lecter matter-of-factly asks "Have you ever seen blood in the moonlight, Will? It appears quite black." With appearances in Rushmore, Adaptation, and more recently his acclaimed turn as the loathsome media empire patriarch Logan Roy in HBO's Succession he has earned a reputation for creating fleshed out, memorable characters. And he more than lives up to that reputation here. Cox is commanding presence as Bach. In whatever situation Oliver Cotton's script places him, one is conscious of observing a master thespian at work." BroadwayWorld

"Cox is the reason to see The Score. It's not very often you get to see an actor of Cox's caliber do what he does best - even some of STC's recent headliners, talented performers in their own right, don't match up." Feature Presentation

"There is certainly much to enjoy in the staging by Trevor Nunn, the mega musical mastermind who knows how to stage a spectacle. Robert Jones's set and costumes draw a sharp line between Bach's earthy household and the gilded, martial splendor of Frederick's court. Johanna Town's lighting, with its steady glow of windows, suggests the watchful presence of a higher power." MD Theatre Guide

"Cox gives a restrained performance as Bach. While some might consider it underwhelming, over-acting a character with a volcanic temper would be the obvious choice for a lesser actor. His Bach is angry, yes = sometimes righteously at great injustice, sometimes in the delightfully petty way of a curmudgeon - but he is also loving and loveable. Cox's real-world wife, Nicole AnsariCox, plays Anna Magdalena Bach; their interactions onstage are full of genuine tenderness. Christopher Staines' introduction as court musician Johann Quantz is the play's funniest moment. With pitch-perfect physicality, he retells the king's blasphemous joke about a man who would rather continue dangling from a cliff than obey the literal voice of God. Staines' hand, clasped in the air as if he was holding on for dear life, did not move at all, even as he stood on his tip-toes and gesticulated with his free arm." Washington City Paper

"There's a lot of beautiful writing in the play, and some piercing performances, particularly by Sen McGinley, as that bloviating old man, and Judith Roddy as a woman poised, in the show's Vanya-verse, somewhere between the abandon of Yelena and the yearning of Sonya." American Theatre

"Brian Cox Is a Commanding Bach" Metro Weekly

"Brian Cox brings wit and strength to J.S. Bach in The Score, Shakespeare Theatre's spirited clash between art and power." Metro Weekly

"The moment the curtain rises, playwright Oliver Cotton's The Score - playing through October 25 at Shakespeare Theatre Company in a visiting production from Theatre Royal Bath - is designed for entrance applause. Johann Sebastian Bach, played by Emmy- and Olivier Award-winning actor Brian Cox, stands alone in his dim apartment, waiting patiently, like the suitcase by the door, for the audience to finish offering their regard before getting down to the business at hand. It proves to be a fitting start for Cotton's nearly three-hour hagiography of the legendary composer." DC Theater Arts