Wolverhampton Grand Theatre to Produce BRASSED OFF

Today, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre officially announced that it will produce a brand new production of BRASSED OFF, marking the first major production to be produced in-house at the venue for more than 40 years.

BRASSED OFF between Wednesday 23 August - Saturday 2 September 2017 is written by Paul Allen, adapted from the screenplay by Mark Herman. It's 1992; and Danny's lifelong ambition to lead Grimley Colliery Band to the National Brass Band Competition at the Royal Albert Hall looks like it might finally happen. But as Grimley pit faces closure, the future looks bleak as the town is thrown into conflict. Flugelhorn player Gloria arrives in town bringing with her a renewed sense of hope and a touch of romance, but no-one knows who she's really playing for...

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre unveiled a £1.2m refurbishment in September 2016 and celebrated by producing a proms-style gala evening to launch an exciting new chapter for the venue. BRASSED OFF will be the first drama to be produced by the theatre and will feature a community cast who will appear in a variety of speaking and non-speaking roles alongside high-profile professional actors to be announced soon. There will also be a full brass band who will form an integral part of the production. Casting and auditions for local performers will be announced shortly. Please regularly check the website for further information which is expected to be released very soon.

BRASSED OFF will be directed by Gareth Tudor-Price who was Artistic Director at Hull Truck Theatre for many years and has worked alongside playwrights including John Godber and Amanda Whittington. Set and costume design is by John Brooking who has designed many productions from serious drama to pantomime including sets for the West End stage.

Paul Allen was born in Kent and brought up in cold country vicarages. In 1976 he was the first regional journalist to be named Critic of the Year in the British Press Awards, for television and radio reviewing. In the 1980s he began a long association with the BBC Radio 4 arts magazine Kaleidoscope. He wrote and presented the Kaleidoscope feature The Leaf and the Fig which won the last BP Arts Journalism Award for radio in 1993. Two dozen of his plays have been produced, on radio and theatres across the country. Most recently his adaptation of Brassed Off opened in Sheffield and subsequently transferred to the National Theatre. He has presented Night Waves on BBC Radio 3 since May 1998. His biography of Alan Ayckbourn, Grinning at the Edge, is published by Methuen. A Pocket Guide to Alan Ayckbourn's Plays is published by Faber.

Mark Herman wrote Brassed Off which opened the Sundance and Leeds Film Festivals in 1997 and in 1998 won the Ceaser Award for Best Film. His first feature-length project was Blame It on the Bellboy (1992), a comedy of mistaken identity starring Dudley Moore and Bryan Brown. His other work includes Little Voice starring Ewan McGregor, Michael Caine, Jane Horrocks and Brenda Blethyn. Purely Belter (Film Four), Hope Springs, The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas (British Independent Film Award: Best Director).

BRASSED OFF was first performed at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield on 17th March 1998.

Tickets for BRASSED OFF between Wednesday 23 August - Saturday 2 September 2017 are now on sale and can be purchased in person at the Box Office, by calling 01902 42 92 12 or online at grandtheatre.co.uk.

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre is also producing A GRAND MUSIC HALL which will celebrate the good old days of variety entertainment on Wednesday 14 June. Line up to be announced. Tickets are on sale now.

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