Lily Allen’s ‘West End Girl’ tour is a brutal, brilliant look at romantic betrayal

WASHINGTON – In case Lily Allen ever doubted, her fans have her back.

When the British pop songstress dropped her fifth studio album, “West End Girl,” last fall, it arrived primed to raise eyebrows and keep internet sleuths busy for weeks.

Allen, 40, lyrically annihilated now-ex-husband, actor David Harbour (“Stranger Things”) with pointed accusations (and proof in the form of literal receipts) of infidelity. Though Harbour is never named, there is no doubting the recipient of her ire.

The acclaimed album, for all of its stinging words, celebrated Allen reclaiming her dignity.

Meanwhile, her live performance of the release, “Lily Allen Presents West End Girl,” is a meticulously crafted display that receives the focus it deserves under Allen’s guidance.

Allen debuted her production in the U.K. in March before this brisk 10-city run in North America, including her April 19 stop at the 1,800 capacity Warner Theatre in D.C. Demand for Allen’s distinctive show was so strong that a fall leg was recently announced, where she’ll hit mostly arenas in cities including Detroit, Toronto, Minneapolis and New York’s Madison Square Garden.

How long is Lily Allen's 'West End Girl' show?

It’s perhaps the first time an artist has developed a one-hour, one-woman musical dedicated to a singular piece of art. The 14 story-songs on “West End Girl” are performed top to bottom, and Allen’s proficiency for writing poison barbs coated in musical sugar is augmented live.

There is no banter. No detouring into bouncy hits “Smile” or “F--- You” (that was left to openers the Dallas Minor Trio, celloists who performed instrumentals of Allen’s songs). No breaking the fourth wall. No encore.

Just Allen unraveling her anguish while moving through a series of costumes – a pink tweed suit that gave way to a lacy negligee, maroon leather shorts, a salmon-colored feather boa – and quickly shuffled set pieces, including a bed, stately couch, a chandelier and a refrigerator stocked with everything from a vape pen to a pair of heel-clad legs.

Allen’s airy voice landed perfectly on the opening title track, which included her side of a call on a red rotary phone. Watching her face drop as she hears the unpleasantness on the other end of the conversation is testament to Allen’s ability to act. Though is she, really, given this deeply personal betrayal?

Lily Allen highlights songs with sex props and receipt dress

Fans quickly learned that screaming “I love you, Lily!” in the middle of a song would not get a reaction in this staging, so they danced to the pulsing “Ruminating” and shouted the words to the cinematic “Madeline.” The bracing opus about Allen texting the “other woman” includes her sing-reading the adulteress’s response in an American accent, which Allen portrayed proficiently.

There was no live band, but it was barely noticeable, especially given the instrumental versions of the album’s tracks that played during those brief changeovers.

The Duane Reade plastic bag full of sex toys that Allen discovered at an ex-husband’s West Village apartment, as depicted in “Pussy Palace,” received a live cameo as Allen performed the song standing on a bed. And the immediate outfit highlight – a dress-train printed with Bergdorf Goodman receipts and bar bills from the cheating ex unwrapped during “4chan Stan” ‒ was a wickedly delicious slice of comeuppance.

Allen deftly navigated the seesawing emotions collected in “West End Girl,” from the plaintive strings ballad “Just Enough” to the industrial clamor of “Beg for Me.” Closer “Fruityloop” found her bathed in pink lighting at the front of the stage, her clear voice ringing through the final declaration of “It’s not me, it’s you.”

And with that, Allen gave a wobbly curtsy in her form-fitting dress, blew kisses to the still-standing crowd and looked over her shoulder with a sly smile as she exited the stage. Her work here was done.