---
title: "Jersey Green Room’s Dear Evan Hansen is a show for right now"
url: https://www.nsfw.info/dear-evan-hansen-jersey-green-room-review/
published: 2026-10-28T09:30:55+00:00
modified: 2026-10-28T09:30:55+00:00
author: "Chief Editor"
categories: ["Entertainment"]
image: https://www.nsfw.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/dear-evan-hansen-jersey-green-room-review-1024x572.webp
summary: "Jersey Green Room Theatre Company's Dear Evan Hansen earns strong praise, with lead Reece Folan and singer River Scott singled out. Runs at Jersey Arts Centre u"
publisher: NSFW (https://www.nsfw.info)
---

# Jersey Green Room’s Dear Evan Hansen is a show for right now

**In brief:** The Jersey Green Room Theatre Company’s production of Dear Evan Hansen is running at Jersey Arts Centre until Sunday 1 November. Bailiwick Express calls it a “powerful, polished and thoroughly professional show,” with lead performer Reece Folan singled out for a remarkable central performance. With online harms currently dominating Jersey’s headlines, the timing could hardly feel more apt.

## A Show for This Moment

There are productions that arrive at exactly the right time, and then there is Dear Evan Hansen landing in Jersey in the autumn of 2026, just as the island’s debate over online harms reaches a crescendo. Bailiwick Express notes that “with online harms dominating the headlines in Jersey, there is something particularly poignant about watching Dear Evan Hansen right now,” describing it as “a show that speaks to teenagers, parents and everyone in between.”

The musical, which explores social anxiety, grief, deception and the devastating amplifying power of social media, has always carried a serious emotional charge. In a Jersey context, where parents, educators and politicians are wrestling with the real-world consequences of young people’s online lives, it carries something extra: a mirror held up at precisely the moment people are ready to look into it.

## Performances That Punch Above Their Weight

The reviewer arrived having seen a professional production of the show, which is about as demanding a benchmark as an amateur company could face. The verdict, according to Bailiwick Express, is that the Jersey Green Room Theatre Company “gives it a serious run for its money.”

Much of that is down to Reece Folan in the title role. Bailiwick Express describes him as “brilliant,” noting that he commands the stage “for almost the entirety of the two-and-a-half-hour show,” with mannerisms that are “utterly believable.” What makes the achievement more striking still is that Folan had only two weeks of rehearsal with his fellow cast members before the curtain went up.

The vocal standout, however, is River Scott as Zoe Murphy. Bailiwick Express is unequivocal: Scott’s voice is “phenomenal: assured, expressive and more than capable of holding its own in the West End.” Their rendition of “Requiem” is described as giving the reviewer “genuine shivers.” High praise, and the kind that sticks.

Harley Drelaud and Jake Osborne make strong impressions in the roles of Alana Beck and Connor Murphy respectively. Drelaud’s voice prompts the reviewer to wish for more of it, while Osborne is credited with bringing “the blend of light and dark, sensitivity and humour that Connor needs.” Hugo Jones provides comic relief as Jared Kleinman, though Bailiwick Express notes that his American accent “occasionally slips, which can be slightly distracting.” Alice Veitch is picked out as a particular standout among the parents, playing Heidi Hansen.

## Direction and Design

Nick Carver’s direction is described by Bailiwick Express as “smart,” giving the show’s multiple perspectives room to register while making “effective use of the Arts Centre’s small stage.” Clever lighting helps define different areas of the action, and Carver is credited with finding “opportunities for humour that keep the production from becoming overwhelmed by its emotional weight.” That balance, between the show’s considerable darkness and the moments of levity that make it bearable, is no small directorial feat.

The reviewer also notes the breadth of the story’s perspectives as one of its great strengths: parents, friends, siblings and classmates all get their moment, meaning different audience members will find different things to recognise in it. As Bailiwick Express puts it, “the conversations it prompts may be as varied as the people watching.”

## Practical Details

Dear Evan Hansen continues at Jersey Arts Centre until Sunday 1 November. Remaining performances are at 7.30pm from Wednesday 28 to Friday 30 October, with matinees at 2.30pm and evening performances at 7.30pm on Saturday 31 October, and a final matinee at 2.30pm on Sunday 1 November. Friday’s performance will be BSL interpreted by Andrew Higgins. Tickets are available online or by calling the box office on 01534 700444.

## The NSFW Perspective

There is something quietly impressive about a local amateur company taking on a show of this emotional and technical complexity and pulling it off to this standard. Jersey has a habit of punching above its weight in unexpected places, and the Green Room Theatre Company appears to be doing exactly that. If you have teenagers at home, or if you simply want to understand what the online harms conversation is really about at a human level, two and a half hours at the Arts Centre this week might do more than any policy document. Go while you still can.

*Source: [Bailiwick Express](https://www.bailiwickexpress.com/news/review-dear-evan-hansen-is-a-show-that-speaks-to-teenagers-parents-and-everyone-in-between)*