User:Urbane Legend/London Road (musical)

London Road (musical)

London Road is a musical written by Alecky Blythe (book and lyrics) and Adam Cork (music and lyrics). It opened at the National Theatre's Cottesloe auditorium on 14 April 2011 after seven previews. The production was directed by Rufus Norris.

Overview

The musical is set in and around London Road in Ipswich, during the Ispwich serial murders and subsequent trial of killer Steve Wright in 2006-2008. The piece is written in verbatim style, meaning the spoken text is reproduced by the performers exactly as recorded in interviews, in this case with the residents of London Road and some of the women who worked as prostitutes there, as well as members of the media who gathered in the area to report the news. The lyrics in the musical segments are similarly derived from the interviews as recorded, with the meter, pitch and rhythm of the music following the patterns of the original recorded speech as closely as possible.

The murders themselves, the murdered women, and Steve Wright are not depicted; rather, the piece is concerned with the residents as they cope with the events unfolding around them, the media attention drawn to their neighbourhood, and their attempts to rebuild and regenerate their community afterwards. The piece does not feature principal characters in the conventional sense, instead, an ensemble cast assume the roles of various locals, sex workers and reporters.

Musical numbers

1. Good evening, welcome
2. London Road in bloom
3. Everyone is very very nervous
4. It could be him
5. Shaving scratch
6. And that's when it all started
7. They like a good moan
8. It's a wicked bloody world
9. The plea
10. Ten weeks
11. Cellular material
12. We've all stopped
13. The verdict
14. Everyone smile
15. Interview
16. London Road in bloom (reprise)

Cast

Paul Thornley, Michael Shaeffer, Claire Moore, Hal Fowler, Kate Fleetwood, Duncan Wisbey, Nick Holder, Howard Ward, Rosalie Craig, Nicola Sloane, Clare Burt.