Award-winning Musical LONDON ROAD Returns To London

Sedos presents a new production of the award-winning musical LONDON ROAD at the Bridewell Theatre, off Fleet Street, from 27 July to 6 August 2016. The musical, which has book and lyrics by Alecky Blythe and music and lyrics by Tony Award winner Adam Cork, returns to the capital for the first time since its acclaimed run at the National Theatre in 2011. This ground-breaking show reveals how even the darkest experiences can inspire a community.

In 2006 the everyday life of the town of Ipswich was shattered by the discovery of the bodies of five women. The residents of London Road had struggled for years with the soliciting and kerb-crawling on their street. When Steve Wright, the occupant of number 79, was arrested, charged and then convicted of the murders, the community grappled with the media frenzy and what it meant to be at the epicentre of this tragedy.

Playwright Alecky Blythe recorded extensive interviews with the residents of London Road and turned them into an intelligent, startling and raw piece of theatre. Tony Award winner Adam Cork's score uses the melodic and rhythmic speech patterns captured on those recordings to create this extraordinary work.

London Road was originally performed at the National Theatre in 2011, winning the Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical. A feature film of the production was made in 2015 starring Olivia Colman and Tom Hardy and including many of original cast.

Matt Gould, the director of this new production of London Road, commented: "All of the words that you hear on stage are the words of the original people of Ipswich, who were interviewed by Alecky Blythe. What I couldn't believe was how those words - the words of normal, real people - when spoken and then musicalised, could suddenly have such a grandeur and an emotional power. What Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork achieved was to find the emotional truth and then somehow to extract and magnify it.

"The ultimate message of London Road is that good can come out of evil and that even from the darkest of circumstances people can pull together, rebuild their lives and make a better place."

London Road contains adult themes and language.

Since 2012 Sedos has been the resident theatre company at the Bridewell Theatre.

Tickets: £13.50-£18. Box office: www.sedos.co.uk

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