London Premiere for FOURTEEN AGAIN
The Victoria Wood Theatre is absolutely thrilled to share the news that our much loved production of Fourteen Again, which delighted audiences in Bowness earlier this year is transferring to London!
Reuniting Ria Jones and Sally Ann Triplett, reprising their roles of Lou and Peggy, Jonathan O’Boyle’s production opens at the Menier Chocolate Factory on Wednesday 2 December, with previews from Saturday 21 November, and runs until Saturday 27 February 2027. Both actors have worked alongside Victoria Wood – Triplett created the role of Miss Berta in the original West End production of the musical Acorn Antiques: The Musical!; and Jones played Mrs Overall in the first national tour of Acorn Antiques which Wood directed. Full casting will be announced shortly.
The Victoria Wood Theatre was renamed this year – the 10th anniversary of Wood’s death, by her close friends and collaborators, the husband-and-wife team, producer Charlotte Scott and designer Roger Glossop. To celebrate Victoria’s life and work they commissioned Tom MacRae (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie) to work with her songbook to create a brand-new musical, the inaugural production in our newly renamed venue.
Victoria Wood originally opened the World of Beatrix Potter Attraction (which shares a building with the Theatre), was a Trustee, and performed on the stage many times. She also directed her own show Talent – which was co-produced with the Menier; and in 2013, her television film Housewife 49 was adapted for the stage especially for the venue.
Fourteen Again begins at the local Slimming Club, where Peggy is reunited with Lou, her best friend from school who she hasn’t seen since they were teenagers. As kids, no two friends were ever funnier or more fun, but here, now, today they are shadows of their younger selves - and a story unfolds of looking back to the future, full of comedy, love and pain, with Victoria Wood’s amazing songs moving the musical fast forward.
Public booking for Fourteen Again opens on 9 September.
"If you could do it all again… what would you do?"
Peggy is recently divorced and lost in life, when a chance meeting with her long-lost childhood best friend, Lou, forces her to think about the trials and triumphs of their teenage years together. However, thought soon becomes reality when Peggy wakes up to find that she is literally Fourteen Again, Peggy must fix the mistakes of her past to get back her present - but which mistakes?
Featuring much-loved songs by Victoria Wood (Dinner Ladies, Acorn Antiques), and a brilliant book by Tom MacRae (writer of West End smash hit Everybody’s Talking About Jamie) FOURTEEN AGAIN is a dramatic comedy full of twists and turns, tears and joy, that will send you home singing and (we guarantee) laughing!
https://www.menierchocolatefactory.com/
Production photos: Pamela Raith
