West End run for Boys From the Blackstuff

The Royal Court’s smash hit Boys From the Blackstuff is set to go into the West End.

The acclaimed stage version of Alan Bleasdale’s TV classic, written by award-winning playwright James Graham, will have an eight-week run at the Garrick Theatre in a Liverpool Royal Court production by arrangement with Bill Kenwright Ltd.

The powerful production, which played to sell-out houses in Liverpool last September, is already returning to the Roe Street stage this spring as well as enjoying a limited run at the National Theatre on London’s Southbank.

Now it has been announced that it will transfer to the Garrick, in the heart of the West End, from June 13 to August 3.

James Graham said: “To work with Alan Bleasdale in the room has been the biggest treat of my life. He’s one of the reasons I became a writer.

“I think Boys From the Blackstuff is more resonant today than it’s ever been before. We’re living through a time right now, with the cost-of-living crisis, where those fears and that anger towards the lack of hope, the lack of a plan to get us out of this crisis, makes an audience respond and react.

“And because of how iconic these characters are, and because of all those famous lines that a lot of people still remember, it feels really alive in the theatre.

“It’s actually really funny: Alan Bleasdale is an hilarious writer and Liverpool has this dark sense of humour that cuts through all the tragedy and all the bleakness."

Kevin Fearon, executive director of Liverpool's Royal Court, added: "As a full-time regional theatre producer creating work that speaks proudly to our local audience, we don’t have the time or the need to share our work with a wider audience. Boys From the Blackstuff is different.

“Alan Bleasdale’s iconic TV series aired in the 80s but its themes of hope, despair and fairness, or lack of it are still relevant today across the country. James Graham’s adaptation, just as Boys was in the 80s, is a Play For Today. It’s a privilege to share it."

The production is directed by Kate Wasserberg and stars Barry Sloane, Nathan McMullen, George Caple, Aron Julius, Philip Whitchurch, Jamie Peacock, Mark Womack, Dominic Carter, Helen Carter and Lauren O’Neil.

Boys From the Blackstuff will play at Liverpool’s Royal Court from April 19 to May 11, then at the National Theatre from May 22 to June 8, and the Garrick Theatre from June 13 to August 3.

Tickets for the Liverpool dates HERE