Anna gets nostalgic about Pop Music in Birmingham

Published: 6 September 2018
Reporter: Steve Orme

“Euphoric theatre party”: Pop Music

Bruntwood Prize winner Anna Jordan’s new play Pop Music is to première in Birmingham before going on a national tour.

Jordan won the bi-annual competition in 2013 for her play Yen which was produced at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester in 2015.

Pop Music, commissioned and produced by Birmingham REP and Paines Plough, is a “euphoric, nostalgic, pop-tastic theatre party for anyone who’s ever made a fool of themselves on the dance floor”.

It features G and Kayla whose lives are a mess. As their veins course with adrenalin and cheap Prosecco, they go on a journey through 30 years of pop. They discover they have more in common than their taste in tunes.

The cast features Katherine Kotz as Kayla, Rakesh Boury as G and Ciaran Alexander Stewart.

James Grieve directs. Movement director is Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Forster. Dom Kennedy is sound designer, Ben Smith is associate sound designer, Tanya Joelle Stephenson is lighting designer and assistant director is Elin Schofield.

Pop Music will open in The Door at Birmingham REP from 12 until 22 September (press night 17 September) before touring to Liverpool, Peterborough, Bracknell, Brighton, St Albans, Norwich, Doncaster, Havant, Manchester, Derby, Selby, Preston, Washington, Lincoln, Beverly, Canterbury, Bordon, Lyme Regis, Guildford, Halifax, Banbury, Barking, Maidenhead, Bromsgrove, Berwick upon Tweed and Whitehaven.

It will have integrated British Sign Language and captioning at the REP, Derby Theatre, The Garage, Norwich and Phoenix Arts, Bordon.

The REP will also tour Pop Music to community venues in areas of low cultural engagement across the city as part of the REP's “ongoing commitment to great art for all”.

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