Theatre

An award-winning play about England men’s football team is coming to Greater Manchester

Football's coming... to The Lowry.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 5th June 2024

An award-winning play about England men’s national football team is set to play outside of London for the first time ever.

And Greater Manchester has been chosen as the lucky location.

The National Theatre’s smash-hit production of writer James Graham’s Olivier Award-winning play, Dear England, will have a four-week run at the legendary The Lowry Theatre in Salford next year from 29 May to 29 June 2025.

Directed by the Almeida Theatre’s Artistic Director, Rupert Goold, Dear England tells the story of the England men’s football team under current manager, Gareth Southgate.

An award-winning play about England men’s football team is coming to Greater Manchester / Credit: The Lowry

Originally commissioned by the National Theatre, the play had its world premiere in June 2023, and later transferred to the West End following a sold-out run of shows, where it broke several box office records in the process.

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As the nation watches the drama unfold at this summer’s UEFA EURO 2024, the critically-acclaimed play is set to “evolve” in a way that’ll include this key European championship too, all while continuing to examine the crucial role the England team and manager play in English society.

A synopsis of the play reads: “The country that gave the world football has since delivered a painful pattern of loss. Why can’t England’s men win at their own game?

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It’ll be taking to the stage in Salford for a four-week run next summer / Credit: The Lowry

“The team has the worst track record for penalties in the world, and manager Gareth Southgate knows he needs to open his mind and face up to the years of hurt to take team and country back to the promised land.”

Casting for the The Lowry production of the play is set to be announced in due course, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled.

The Lowry’s CEO, Julia Fawcett, said Dear England‘s run will be a “unique and incredibly special event”.

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Speaking ahead of the play’s 2025 run at the MediaCity-based arts venue, Fawcett continued: “With football being so integral to the whole culture of the North West, we know that this production is going to really resonate with our audiences.”

Dear England will be at The Lowry from Thursday 29 May – Sun 29 June 2025, and tickets will go on general sale next Friday (14 June 2024) at 10am to coincide with the start of the UEFA EURO 2024 tournament.

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Find out more and grab tickets when they go on sale here.

Featured Image – The Lowry

Theatre

Thousands of FREE tickets to The Big Night of Musicals at AO Arena have been released

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

There are thousands of free tickets up for grabs to attend ‘The Big Night of Musicals’ in Manchester next year which features a variety of theatre classics.

The curtain has risen once again as returning favourite, The Big Night of Musicals, is coming to AO Arena for a fourth year.

Hosted once again by the one and only Jason Manford, this event contains segments from some of the world’s greatest theatre productions.

Fronted by The National Lottery, this showcase is a thank you to all players whose money has supported more than 20,000 theatre-related projects totalling £1.3 billion.

These funds have been used on many performing arts resources including restoring theatres and enabling hundreds of musical-related projects to commence.

This isn’t something to be missed out on as the bill is shaping up to be one of the event’s biggest to date featuring stars from the West End and some of the most notorious shows.

Attendees can expect to hear some familiar favourites in the likes of Bat Out of Hell, Here & Now: The Steps Musical, Mean Girls and more.

There’s even an exclusive preview of the upcoming theatre adaptation of a Disney superhero as snippets from ‘Hercules’ will be performed live.

Guests even have a chance to be in the same room as musical theatre legend Carrie Hope Fletcher as she takes on the role of Calamity Jane in the theatre show of the same name.

Dear Evan Hansen is also on the bill and if you aren’t free for the musical ensemble, it’s running at Palace Theatre Manchester from 18-22 February next year and tickets are available right now.

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This event has a super varied lineup too, from throwback pop bangers to Wild West heroines, this night really caters to everyone.

In true musical style, there will be big, bold performances and, of course, lots of excellent surprises all set to make a fantastic night of live music at the AO Arena.

All National Lottery players have the chance to reserve up to four tickets, the only cost is proof they’ve purchased a product from the National Lottery and a £2 booking fee per ticket.

Tickets for the ‘Big Night of Musicals’ on 25 January are already on sale you can try your luck at grabbing some free seats HERE.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Image — Publicity Picture (Supplied)

Theatre

Come From Away at The Lowry – a 9/11 musical full of heart and hope

Oli Lowe Oli Lowe Come From Away at The Lowry - a 9/11 musical full of heart and hope

Let’s start with a summary of Come From Away – this is a theatre show about a small town on the coast of Canada, that when disaster shook the world on September 11th 2001, offered accommodation to over 7,000 passengers whose flights had been diverted due to the American airspace being closed.  

On the surface, you wouldn’t read the above summary of events and think ‘Let’s turn that cheery story into a musical’ but you simply have to believe me when I tell you that it just works.

Come From Away isn’t a story about disaster or tragedy (although both do feature heavily for obvious reasons) – it’s a story about community, hope and how when faced with the toughest of circumstances people are capable of extraordinary things.

The show opens in the unsuspecting town of Gander, Canada on the morning of 9/11. Gander was once home to the world’s largest airport, in a time gone by, when planes used to have to stop immediately after crossing the Atlantic.

This meant that Gander was the first place in North America that people such as The Beatles or even The Queen, ever landed. However, as we begin our story, Gander is now a small town with a population of about 11,000 and a derelict Airport, barely fit for purpose.

These circumstances changed very quickly when at 8:46am on September 11th 2001, a terrorist attack was committed on the World Trade Centre, New York. With the US airspace immediately closed, with all airborne planes now suspected to be terrorist weapons, all flights crossing the Atlantic had to be diverted to the nearest Canadian airport… Gander.   

Come From Away at The Lowry - a 9/11 musical full of heart and hope
Come From Away at The Lowry – a 9/11 musical full of heart and hope

This creates a scenario whereby within minutes a quiet unassuming town on the coast of Canada is expected to welcome over 7000 passengers from 38 different flights, without warning, without proper preparation and without any indication as to how long they’ll be staying.

When this tale is brought to life, it’s one that will bring you to tears. I have never in my life cried so much at a musical, which I know might not sound like the most resounding endorsement but it’s truly meant to be. There were of course sad tears, heartbreaking tears and sorrowful tears but there were also tears of joy, tears of quiet happiness and tears of hope.

When you think of the horrific events of 9/11, your thoughts immediately turn to the epicentre, to New York. I’d never considered the wider implications of that day, how thousands of people flying must have had their lives turned upside down, how panicked loved ones all across the world must have been, how communities globally were affected and how a small town in a completely different country was called into action.

I don’t want to give too much away in regards to the actual characters within this story or how their journeys play out through what must of been an incredibly tough time, but what I will say is that the characters in this story, all of whom are directly based on real people (more on that later), are some of the most inspirational human beings I’ve ever come across.

Come From Away is at The Lowry until 5 January
Come From Away is at The Lowry until 5 January

The show stars an extraordinary ensemble performance, with no leads or ‘main characters’, instead each of the twelve actors play a multitude of characters, whose stories inevitably intertwine with one and others. 

The staging and choreography for this show are also fantastic, very minimalist with the set mainly being made up of just chairs and small props, leading the audience to use their imaginations to fill in blanks.

I sadly can’t guarantee this at every performance of Come From Away but at the curtain call the night we watched, the real residents of Gander from whom the story is based on, came onto stage and gave a speech about how ‘none of them are heroes but instead just people who decided to do the right thing’… Which inevitably led to more tears from me and an even deeper appreciation of the show. 

I think this story is truly needed in the world we’re living in at the moment, with global tensions high, an economy that doesn’t favour most of us, and a lot of the world feeling more separated than ever before. This story, this beautiful, heartwarming and inspirational story shows us how even through the toughest of circumstances, we can work together for the betterment of everyone.

Please go and watch Come From Away. It’s one of the most beautiful stories I’ve seen brought to the stage and it deserves endless support from us Mancs whilst here in Salford.

It’s running throughout the festive season till 5 January and I guarantee you’ll walk away from it feeling just that little bit more hopeful about the world we live in. 

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