The Lowdown on Death Note: The Musical at the Barbican
Published on 5 August 2026
What is it?
Death Note – The Musical is a musical version of the early 2000s manga created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata about the sharp-as-a-pin high school student, Light Yagami, who discovers a notebook belonging to Ryuk, the god of death. If you write the name of someone in the notebook, they will die.
Ah, a really nifty premise.
It is, and it has led to sales of 30 million copies worldwide as well as an anime TV series, a Netflix version and video games. You can even buy a T-shirt.
But maybe not the most obvious material for a musical.
Oh come on, I once saw a ballet version of Macbeth. Who’d have ever thought that a 1,200-page novel with a considerable propensity for detours which is set against a bit of French history that most people have never heard of would become a musical theatre blockbuster? But Les Misérables has. One of the interesting things about musicals at the moment is that composers and writers are looking beyond the obvious titles for musicals. Maybe because they have already plundered the most obvious ones.
So, what else makes Death Note interesting?
Ah, well, perhaps like Les Mis, it is the great characters and moral complexities of the story. Light, the son of a police officer, who knows the guilty often evade punishment for their crimes, uses the notebook to write down the names of criminals. They quickly die. Is Light simply balancing the scales of justice, or has he got a god complex and is no better than any serial killer?
Ooh, dark, tell me more.
Even better, Light’s actions bring him to the attention of the enigmatic detective, L, and a battle of wits and game of cat and mouse ensues. Oh, and there are demon characters too, including Ryuk, who finds human fallibilities deeply amusing.
So, is this a world premiere?
Yes, but in fact a version of the show first surfaced in Japan in 2015; there was a production in South Korea in 2022, and in 2023 there was a sold-out concert version in London seen at the London Palladium and the Lyric on Shaftesbury Avenue. But apparently it has been extensively revised; hence, the world premiere tag.
Ah, I remember, didn’t a lot of the audience turn up in character to the Palladium?
Yes, there was a Comic-Con vibe, but I reckon this has an appeal that means it can reach far beyond a cult audience. Besides, the 30 million sales of the book and transposition into other forms mean that Death Note is pretty mainstream. The question is whether the musical version can retain the wittiness and moral intricacies of the original.
Who are the writers?
The score is by Frank Wildhorn, the lyrics are from Jack Murphy, and the book is by Ivan Menchell. The latter worked on Bonnie and Clyde with Wildhorn, who has a reputation for being the king of the power ballad. He also wrote Your Lie in April, which was briefly in London in 2024.
There does seem to be a lot of Asian-inspired theatre around at the moment.
There is, from My Neighbour Totoro to Spirited Away and more. It is clear that Japanese and Korean producers see expanding into the West End and Broadway with works based on Asian stories as a priority. Both are significant players in film and TV, and musical theatre is an equally lucrative market. A Korean musical, Maybe Happy Ending, won the Best Musical Tony in 2025.
Do say
I’m with the philosopher Immanuel Kant, who believed that while the guilty deserve punishment, that punishment should only be delivered by the legal system.
Don’t say
I wonder whether Ryman stocks those notebooks. Great Aunt Maisie will be first on my list.
Death Note – The Musical is playing at the Barbican Theatre until 12 September 2026. Book your tickets today.
By Lyn Gardner
Lyn Gardner is an acclaimed theatre journalist and former critic with decades of experience covering British theatre, from off-West End and fringe theatre to major West End productions.