High flying, adored? Phenomenal Evita has a balcony scene like no other - but no tears

The director Jamie Lloyd has outraged some theatregoers, who evidently feel short-changed after paying good money to see Rachel Zegler as Eva Perón. In one scene, she wanders off stage and onto an outward-facing balcony to sing a magnetic reprise of Don't Cry for Me Argentina to the gathered crowd outside the theatre.

- Arifa Akbar

What are these grumps complaining about? Not long ago, Lloyd staged Romeo and Juliet in the West End, but here is a balcony scene like no other. It makes for a sensational moment, when Perón triumphantly addresses the crowd on her husband Juan's election victory. It is 360-degree theatre, for the rich inside (who see it on a video feed) and for the "hoi polloi" outside - very fitting for Eva given her disdain for the wealthy.

It is no less than the director's biggest coup de théâtre: the public itself is enlisted for his mise en scène of populist rallies, crowd hypnotism and authoritarian charm. The crowd might represent late 1940s Buenos Aires - or mid-2020s America under the spell of becoming "great again". Never mind complaints of a free show - maybe Lloyd should be paying them.