We wrote a Cleadon theatre group's first ever musical on South Shields' lifeboat history
Tickets are now available for a Cleadon-based musical based on the formation of the first lifeboat in South Shields.
A local theatre group have started rehearsals for their first ever musical production - a series of performances which have been decades in the making.
Named Lifeboat, the show tells the story of the first lifeboat team, which was built and based in South Shields. It is the brainchild of two South Tyneside-born artists, Ron Bell and Ray Craig.
Ron is listed as the writer and director of the show, with Ray taking the role of Musical Director for the show, which is being performed by the team behind The Little Theatre in Cleadon.
The show will run from Tuesday, September 8 until Saturday, September 12.
“Ray and I wrote it many years ago” explains Ron. The pair were in local bands in the past with a series of single releases to their names.
He added: “When all that died down we wanted to test our musical and playwriting skills to a local history story.
“All the characters involved - all the skullduggery and civic pride and the interactions between the protagonists in the story made it a really exciting story to get our teeth into.”
The concept of a play about the local history of the lifeboat may be familiar to some thanks to a previous effort from the pair which was performed at the Westovian Theatre in South Shields in the 90s, but the play has been adapted since then.
“Modern life gets in the way” explained Ron, who added both men moved away from the area and have since retired. They still regularly visit the region.
“Then we had this opportunity with The Little Theatre.
“I’ve been working on the script and modernising it. The cultural landscape has changed. We’ve made it more relevant to a contemporary audience.”
This includes the introduction of a town crier character to help tell the story as well as songs which were removed from the previous production as well as a brand new song.
“I want to give a lot of credit to The Little Theatre for being so adventurous” added Roy.
“It’s something they haven’t done before, a big musical - to have an original musical too!”
Tickets for the show are on sale now through the venue’s website.