The New Vic Theatre will revive Good Golly Miss Molly this April as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations. First produced in 1989, the documentary rock musical blends live rock ‘n’ roll with storytelling to explore a community’s fight to save their homes from demolition.
Inspired by conversations with residents involved in a real housing dispute in Tunstall in the late 1980s, the production was created by writer and director Bob Eaton. The show went on to become an important early example of the actor-musician documentary musical, later being revived in 1991 and 1993 before transferring to the West End’s Arts Theatre.
This new revival features a cast of ten actor-musicians, including original cast member Richard Hague. The ensemble also includes David Ahmad, Samuel Brenton, Shirley Darroch, Jim Duah, Georgina Field, Matthew Ganley, Adam Langstaff, Conor Litten and Alice McKenna.
Bob Eaton said, “It was a pleasure to write Good Golly Miss Molly for the New Vic in 1989. This type of theatre production, involving rock ‘n’ roll music performed live by the cast, was pretty much a new idea back then. I actually got the idea for the show when visiting Hawes Street in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent where the local residents had formed a housing association to save their homes from demolition. The story of their fight against the local council was an inspiring one, and when I walked into the local Workingmen’s Club I realised that I wanted to tell it through the songs and music that i had myself played in a “rhythm group” in just such a club back in the 1960s. Now, more than 30 years after the original production, it is a real privilege to be back at the New Vic, a theatre which has always been very close to my heart.”
New Vic Artistic Director Theresa Heskins said, “Bob Eaton’s innovative musical drama Good Golly Miss Molly kickstarted a fashion for actor musicianship that simply didn’t exist before. In its heyday audience demand was such that it was revived here three times and then transferred to the West End. Bringing a play imbued with community spirit back to the stage is a fitting way to mark our anniversary year, when we’ll be celebrating some of the plays that have shaped the New Vic over the past four decades.”
Good Golly Miss Molly opens at the New Vic on Saturday 4 April and runs until Saturday 2 May 2026.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
