Tom Clarke Becomes Musical Director for the World Premiere of Geoff Thompson's Coventry-Inspired play

Coventry music star Tom Clarke will make his first foray into theatre this year with a brand new musical drama opening at the Belgrade Theatre next season.

Running 29 September - 20 October on the Theatre's B2 Stage, We'll Live and Die in These Towns takes The Enemy's number one debut album of the same name as its soundtrack, led by the band's former frontman as Musical Director.

Penned by Coventry playwright Geoff Thompson, whose moving one-man show Fragile stunned Belgrade audiences in 2012, this new play follows the journey of a young musician named Argy on the cusp of breaking into the big time.

As he prepares for a major homecoming gig that could make or break his career, Argy finds himself overcome by a sudden crisis of confidence, just hours before he's set to take to the stage. Unable to persuade him to perform, his manager sends him off into the city, where revisiting his past helps him to make important decisions about his future.

Argy's worked his whole life to earn his big break, but now it's here, will he be able to face down his fears and seize the moment?

Tom Clarke said: "This is something so different from anything I've done before. It's exciting to be working with new musicians, and to be dissecting songs that are almost like muscle memory for me now, and putting them back together in a very different way."

Helmed by the Belgrade Theatre's Artistic Director Hamish Glen and designed by Patrick Connellan, We'll Live and Die in These Towns forms part of a series of productions bearing witness to local stories as Coventry moves towards its year as City of Culture in 2021.

Playwright Geoff Thompson said: "When I first heard that album, it felt so raw and truthful and full of anger. It captured everything I was feeling, and I just had an intuition that I could put it into a story. This is a universal story with universal themes, but first and foremost it is a Cov story. The poetry and the rhythm of it is Coventry, and that's why I wanted to do it at the Belgrade. It felt like it belonged here.

Director Hamish Glen said: "To me it feels like a profoundly authentic telling of a working class experience which is completely recognisable, where at the point of huge success you start to question how you're going to cope with it, and whether you'll completely lose the context that created that success in the first place. Although it's a universal story, I think there's something in it which is particular to coming from marginalised, places. This is a real celebration of that sense of coming from nowhere."

We'll Live and Die in These Towns premieres at the Belgrade Theatre Saturday 29 September - Saturday 20 October. Tickets will be available to book soon. Visiting www.belgrade.co.uk for details.

The Belgrade Theatre Trust is a registered charity (number 219163). This means that all the money given, raised or earned is not distributed as profit but kept and reinvested in the work that we do. We are reliant on the valued support of our donors and sponsors to ensure that we can continue to develop our artistic and educational work and remain central to the communities that we serve.

The Belgrade Theatre is supported by Arts Council England who champion, develop and invest in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people's lives. Between 2015 and 2018, they plan to invest £1.1 billion of public money from government and an estimated £700 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.

The Belgrade Theatre is part of a network of organisations promoting engagement with arts and culture in the lead-up to Coventry's City of Culture year in 2021. In December 2017, supporters of the Coventry bid gathered at the Belgrade Theatre in the heart of the city to watch the announcement live from Hull, with press on hand to broadcast their reactions to the country. Over the next few years, we will be working closely with both the City of Culture Trust and with communities across the region to present an exciting programme of shows and events reflecting the diversity and passion that made Coventry's bid a success.

In March 2018, the Belgrade Theatre marks 60 years since its opening in 1958. To celebrate, an exciting programme of shows and events has been planned for the year ahead, developed in close partnership with our local communities and partners, including a performance takeover of the nearby Coventry Evening Telegraph building in July, followed by home-produced shows and an anniversary gala this autumn.

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