Newcastle’s Northern Stage has announced casting for The Season Ticket, the play based on Jonathan Tulloch’s novel that became the 2000 FilmFour film Purely Belter.
Two young North East actors take the lead roles. Gerry is played by 22-year-old Niek Versteeg (CBBC’s Wolfblood) from Newcastle and 26-year-old Will Graham from Chester-le-Street (Boy Meets Girl, Inspector George Gently and Tracey Beaker Returns—all BBC) plays Sewell. They are two young lads from the wrong side of the tracks who are trying to raise enough money to buy a season ticket for their beloved Newcastle United.
They will be joined by Victoria Elliott (most recently seen at Northern Stage in Get Carter), Joe Caffrey (Wet House, Live Theatre), Kevin Wathen (Get Carter) and Laila Zaidi (West Side Story, Kilworth House).
Playwright Lee Mattinson in his first play for Northern Stage has gone back to Tulloch’s original novel to create his script. His previous work for the stage includes Snap (Young Vic), Gary Lineker is Gay (Paines Plough) and Chalet Lines (Bush Theatre / Live Theatre). His BBC Radio 3 play Me and Cilla began life on stage at Live Theatre (and, incidentally, featured Victoria Elliott) and he has also written for Coronation Street.
“Working on The Season Ticket has been as much of a rollercoaster as a football season and the first time I’ve adapted a novel for the stage,” Mattinson said. “The book crackles with such heartfelt dialogue and hopeful determination that Gerry and Sewell’s world was a gift to disappear into.
"I’m a huge fan of its previous incarnation, Purely Belter, and, hopefully, the play is not only a re-telling of this Geordie institution but also a fresh take on what it means to belong in 2016.”
The production is directed by co-producer Pilot Theatre’s Associate Director Katie Posner.
“I believe the greatest gift we as a society can offer our young people is hope,” she said. “A belief that their future can be as bright as they can imagine. However, like the fortunes of the football team our story revolves around, sometimes these dreams are checked by the harshness of reality.
“The Season Ticket is based on a novel about a pair of boys who become men as our tale unfolds. Set in Gateshead, it explores the forgotten voices of two young people and how their love of Newcastle United offers them a sense of hope and belonging that is missing in their lives.”
The Season Ticket runs at Northern Stage from 23 September to 8 October before touring to York Theatre Royal (12 to 15 October), Winchester Theatre Royal (20 to 22 October) and Dundee Rep (25 to 27 October).