The stage adaptation of the hit film Pride will transfer to the West End, after a sell-out run at the National Theatre.
The musical tells the true story of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, the group of gay and lesbian activists who rallied behind striking Welsh miners during the 1984 miners’ strike. Stephen Beresford, who wrote the original film, has adapted it for the stage with Matthew Warchas directing.
It will open at the Bridge Theatre on November 12.
On revisiting the story for the stage show, Warchus told the Press Association: “It felt like it’s something that would be natural to do straight away from the beginning, but then we had lots of discussions about why that was a bad idea.
“But it’s been certainly percolating since the film as a notion.”
Beresford added: “I had a suspicion that the effect of the story would be intensified in a live setting with other people around you.
“Obviously in a cinema you’ve got other people around you, but you’re in the dark. It isn’t quite the same, the screen is flat. Whereas having it happening in front of you, I think it has a sort of electricity.”
Featuring an original score by Christopher Nightingale, Josh Cohen and DJ Walde, the show features songs inspired by protest anthems, pop, rock, disco and the Welsh choral tradition.
It transferred to the National Theatre after an acclaimed run at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff.
Warchus said: “There’s plenty of things in it that are worth singing about, which is the acid test of a musical, whether the subjects and the themes and the situations are worth levitating up into song.
“We were trying to balance all the time the comedy of it and the entertainment of it, with this documentary feel, slightly Ken Loach-y feel in the film, and we didn’t want it to feel inauthentic and broad.
“The performances in the film are very detailed and nuanced. When it comes to the stage, everything’s already more theatrical, but we wanted it to still feel political and authentic.
“So that’s why I latched on to this idea of quite a simple storytelling form, without a lot of theatrical bells and whistles, without any hydraulics and big special effects on stage. It’s all got a handmade, rather gritty feel to it.”
While the show is set in the 1980s, Beresford said the themes of the story are still as relevant as they ever were.
He said: “I love the fact that it’s a story about how human beings relate to each other, and when they show up for each other, that happens.
“So that means physically [showing up]. So doing it in a live venue where people come and they see it and they’re part of that group is really wonderful.
“I think the phenomenon of the stage production is strangers connecting. It’s been really interesting, so many people have texted me and said ‘I hugged a stranger at your show’ because you’re crying and you feel moved, you turn around and people start to talk to each other.
“Even us icy Brits, we seem to be desiring that connection.”
Tickets for Pride at the Bridge Theatre go on sale on Wednesday, September 2.
