London Road Tickets

London Road is a gritty verbatim musical with book and lyrics from Alecky Blythe and music and lyrics by Adam Cork. Revived several times since 2011, it’s back at the National Theatre’s Olivier Theatre to deliver a shocking, visceral portrait of one community’s terrible tragedy.

London Road the story

The musical is set in and around London Road in Ipswich, Suffolk, during the Ipswich serial murders and through murderer Steve Wright’s trial, from 2006 to 2008. The dialogue is lifted from real-life interviews conducted at the time with people who lived on London Road, some of the sex workers who plied their trade there, and members of the media reporting the news.

The women and their murderer are neither shown nor named. It’s subtler than that. The play focuses on how ordinary people handled the horrific events as they unfolded, the media attention the neighbourhood suffered, and the way they rebuilt and regenerated their community.

About London Road

The original 2011 production, also directed by Rufus Norris (Small Island), premiered at the National Theatre's Cottesloe venue and won the Circle Award, also nominated for an Evening Standard Theatre award. In 2012 it was nominated for four Oscars and won one. The production was revived for a short season in the National's Olivier Theatre, and again in 2014 at the Bristol Old Vic.

Having premiered in 2018 over the Atlantic in South Carolina, 2023 saw Chicago's Shattered Globe Theatre stage the play’s professional US debut. In 2014 it was made into a movie produced by the National Theatre, BBC Films and Cuba Pictures starring Tom Hardy and Olivia Colman.

London Road cast and creatives

The lyrics come from the interviews exactly as they were as recorded, following real speech in a creative and compelling way, orchestrated for a woodwind ensemble plus acoustic and electric guitar, keyboards and percussion.

The director is Rufus Norris with Set and Costume Design by Katrina Lindsay and Music Direction from David Shrubsole. The Movement Director is Javier De Frutos, the Sound Designer is Paul Arditti and the Orchestrations by Adam Cork. Original Casting comes from Wendy Spon and there’s additional casting by Bryony Jarvis-Taylor.