Elton John Libel Battle Revived On London Stage

In a dimly lit corner of London’s Arcola Theatre, the ghosts of Britain’s tabloid past are being summoned to the stage. The one-man show Monstering the Rocketman, written and performed by Henry Naylor and directed by Darren Lee Cole, is drawing crowds eager to revisit one of the most notorious media scandals of the 1980s: the relentless, homophobic campaign waged by The Sun newspaper against Elton John. It’s a story that feels both of its time and disturbingly contemporary, as the battle lines between press freedom and personal privacy are drawn again in British courts today.

For those unfamiliar with the details, Monstering the Rocketman is rooted in the true story of Elton John’s libel suit against The Sun. In the late 1980s, at the height of the AIDS crisis and rampant tabloid homophobia, The Sun published a sensational, unverified story accusing the pop legend of “sordid rent boy sex sessions.” According to multiple reviews, including those in The Reviews Hub and LondonTheatre1, the campaign against John didn’t stop at lurid headlines. Under the editorship of Kelvin MacKenzie and the ownership of Rupert Murdoch, the paper’s tactics included bugging hotel rooms, handing cash to vulnerable teenagers for gossip, and even stalking John across continents in pursuit of scandal.

It was, by any measure, a ruthless campaign. The play’s projections of actual Sun front pages—some of them shockingly homophobic—help anchor the drama in historical reality. The effect, as noted by Everything Theatre, is to hammer home just how far the tabloid was willing to go. In the end, Elton John fought back, launching a multi-million-pound lawsuit and ultimately winning a £1 million payout and a rare front-page apology from The Sun. As Naylor’s script reminds us, this was Britain’s biggest-ever libel suit at the time, and it marked a turning point in the public’s understanding of media overreach and the rights of celebrities to privacy.

Yet, as Naylor himself acknowledges in the show’s opening moments, not every detail on stage is strictly factual—a nod, perhaps, to the creative liberties taken in both theater and tabloid journalism. “Not everything in this production will be true, but fittingly nor is everything in The Sun,” he quips, as reported by LondonTheatre1. This self-aware tone sets the stage for a performance that is as much about the nature of storytelling as it is about the events themselves.

The narrative unfolds largely through the eyes of a rookie reporter, nicknamed “Lynx” (after the deodorant he uses to mask the sweat of his trade), who is desperate for a front-page byline but increasingly troubled by the paper’s methods. Naylor’s performance is energetic, jumping between characters that include newsroom staff, nightclub bouncers, Elton’s mother, songwriting partners, and, of course, the star himself. The show’s direction, under Darren Lee Cole, keeps the action moving at a brisk, sometimes breathless pace—a necessity, perhaps, given the show’s one-act format and the multitude of roles Naylor juggles.

Critics have been divided on the production’s effectiveness. The Reviews Hub praises Naylor’s charm and storytelling prowess, especially when inhabiting the character of Lynx, but laments the lack of emotional depth and dramatic tension. “It feels more like an anecdote shared over a pint than a theatrical evening,” they write, noting that the outcome—Elton John’s victory—is never in doubt and thus saps the show of suspense. Meanwhile, LondonTheatre1 highlights the show’s uneven writing and under-rehearsed feel, with jokes that sometimes fall flat and themes of homophobia and AIDS introduced abruptly rather than woven into the fabric of the story. “This play had an opportunity to right the wrongs from the past, rewrite history while recounting it, and spread an important message about tolerance, compassion and understanding. However, it’s a sad, sad situation as this production squanders all of that with messy, uneven and frustrating writing,” the reviewer concludes.

Despite these criticisms, there is broad agreement that the subject matter remains deeply relevant. The play’s historical context—an era before iPhones and social media, when commuters read the same paper and headlines could make or break reputations overnight—feels like a cautionary tale for the digital age. As LondonTheatre1 points out, the show tries, albeit clumsily, to draw parallels between the tabloid excesses of the 1980s and today’s social media landscape, where “we are all editors.”

The production’s staging makes creative use of projections, with old Sun headlines and articles providing visual evidence of the real-life attacks on Elton John. This device, as noted by The Reviews Hub, is one of the show’s most impactful elements, particularly when it comes to the projection of especially egregious, homophobic clippings. Lighting helps the story shift through time and space, though the absence of sound design and the unclear costuming choices have drawn criticism from some reviewers.

It’s worth noting that the show lands in London at a moment when the issue of press intrusion is once again in the headlines. As reported by LondonTheatre1, seven high-profile individuals—including Prince Harry, Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost, and Elton John himself—are currently suing The Mail on Sunday for alleged breaches of privacy, including intercepting voicemails and obtaining private medical records. The echoes of the past are unmistakable. The play, in this sense, is not just a period piece but a timely reminder of the ongoing struggle between the media’s hunger for sensational stories and individuals’ rights to dignity and privacy.

For all its flaws, Monstering the Rocketman stands as a testament to the enduring power of theater to interrogate uncomfortable truths. It may not hit every note perfectly—some critics wish for a tighter script or a more focused message—but its willingness to confront the ugly realities of tabloid journalism, and to hold up a mirror to both past and present, is commendable. The show runs at the Arcola Theatre until February 21, 2026, following a sell-out season at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and continues to spark conversation about the ethics of journalism, the perils of public scrutiny, and the hard-won victories of those who refuse to be silenced.

As the lights dim and the final headline fades, one thing is clear: the story of Elton John versus The Sun is far from a relic of the past. It’s a living drama, still playing out in courtrooms, newsrooms, and theaters across Britain.