“Jeremy Desmon’s book and lyrics preserve the blend of rancour and ribaldry that distinguished director Allan Moyle’s screenplay. But it keeps the compassion, too, of a film that didn’t satirise the students but seemed to really care for them. ‘All the great themes have been used up – turned into theme parks,’ sighs Harry in one of his diatribes. A cynic might say all the great movies are just turned into musicals. But this hourlong, no-frills, script-in-hand evening…suggests Pump Up the Volume could become a musical attuned to a post-pandemic teenage mental health crisis and a new age of disillusionment.”

- Chris Wiegand, THE GUARDIAN