Sold-out stage adaptation of hit film Pride transfers to the West End

Pride at the National Theatre (P&P Productions/Manuel Harlan) Laura Harding 3 minutes ago 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 is based on the 2014 film that tells the true story of the group of lesbian and gay activists who raised money to help families affected by the British miners’ strike in 1984.

The show reunites director Matthew Warchus and writer Stephen Beresford, who were also behind the film, which starred Dominic West, Paddy Considine, Bill Nighy and Dame Imelda Staunton.

(Manuel Harlan/P&P Productions) 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.

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.

(Manuel Harlan/P&P Productions) 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.

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“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.”