[title]
A musical adaptation of hit 2014 Britflick Pride has been in the world for a while – which is not surprising, as its director Matthew Warchus – the outgoing Old Vic boss – is a heavyweight director of stage musicals, notably Matilda and Lord of the Rings.
A fictionalised account of real life events, the 1984-set film follows a group of lesbian and gay activists who realise that the reason the police have stopped harassing them is because they’ve instead set their sights on the striking miners. They therefore decide to raise money in solidarity with the strike, overcoming the initial bemusement – and in some case homophobia – of the miners to get in motion a sequence of events that would end with rights for gays and lesbians being adopted to the Labour Party programme.
The musical adaptation will be directed by Warchus and written by the film’s screenwriter Stephen Beresford, who’ll handle lyrics as well as the script, while the music comes from Christopher Nightingale, Josh Cohen and DJ Walde – the latter two are best known for work with hip-hop dance company ZooNation, which suggests the songs could go down a non-showtune route.
There’s no work on casting yet, though there are lots of good roles, including the lead one of gay rights activist Mark Ashton, founder of LGSM (aka Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners).
Substantially set in Wales, the musical will officially preview at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff, before transferring to the National Theatre’s small Dorfman Theatre, as part of an initiative under new NT boss Indhu Rubasingham to debut new British musicals in more intimate surrounds.
Pride is at the National Theatre Dorfman, Jun 11-Sep 12 2026. Tickets will go on sale Nov 14.
The best new London theatre shows to book for in 2025 and 2026.
The ‘actor’ playing Paddington in his West End musical has finally been revealed.