Matthew Durkan

The true story of the rise and fall of Creation Records and its infamous founder Alan McGee; the man responsible for supplying the “Brit Pop” soundtrack to the ‘90s, a decade of cultural renaissance known as Cool Britannia. From humble beginnings to Downing Street soirées, from dodging bailiffs to releasing multi-platinum albums, Creation had it all. Breakdowns, bankruptcy, fights and friendships… and not forgetting the music. Featuring some of the greatest records you have ever heard, we follow Alan through a drug-fuelled haze of music and mayhem, as his rock’n’roll dream brings the world Oasis, Primal Scream, and other generation-defining bands.

Summer 1984. The UK is in turmoil. With Thatcher battling to dismantle the coal industry, and a lethal pandemic on the rise, 24-year-old activist Mark Ashton founds an unlikely new alliance with the pit communities of South Wales: Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners. Funny, fierce and filled with joy, what follows is the incredible true story of two disparate communities joining forces – and making history. This brand-new musical unites Matthew Warchus and Stephen Beresford, director and writer of the hit film Pride, with composers Christopher Nightingale, Josh Cohen, and DJ Walde. Together they share the inspiring story of these real-life events, featuring original songs inspired by protest anthems, pop, rock, disco and the Welsh choral tradition.

Against the backdrop of Hamlet, two hapless minor characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, take centre stage. As the young double act stumble their way in and out of the action of Shakespeare’s iconic drama, they become increasingly out of their depth as their version of the story unfolds.

It's Wednesday night in South London. Fatimah and Leon, two successful Black Brits, are coming to what should be the end of a good evening at a pop-up restaurant, except neither quite seems ready for the night to end. So they continue. A taxi ride into the heart of the city sees them hop around from place to place, crossing paths with friendly strangers as they meander through a night they wish could last forever, if only to avoid the inevitable conversation that awaits them.

The Barber of Seville (in Italian Il barbiere di Siviglia) is an opera in four acts by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini. Despite a disastrous opening night – the music teacher tripped over and had a prolonged nosebleed and an unexpected cat wandered on stage – it has gone on to be ‘perhaps the greatest of all comic operas’. Indeed, Rossini himself stayed at home for the second night, until he was awoken by the sound of applause and cheering and his opera has delighted audiences ever since. Based on a play called Le Barbier de Séville by French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais, this is the first of three plays about a character called Figaro. His second play, Le Mariage de Figaro, was the inspiration for another opera – The Marriage of Figaro by Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, therefore, is considered a prequel to the story of Mozart’s opera, although it was composed 30 years later.