Peaky Blinders dance show announces world premiere
Have you ever wanted to see Tommy Shelby dance? Rambert, a contemporary dance company in the UK, is working with Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight to create a show called Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby. It is loosely based on S1 of the BBC show. The world premiere will be at the Hippodrome in Birmingham on September 27. It will then transfer to the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in north London, where it will run October 12 - November 6.
Directed and choreographed by Rambert's artistic director Benoit Swan Pouffer, the dance show will feature the 20 dancers of the Rambert company on stage. A live band will play specially commissioned music. The dance show was written and adapted by Steven Knight. The show picks up the story of the Peaky Blinders at the end of World War One, following Tommy Shelby and Grace Burgess through their passionate love affair. While Tommy is building his empire, Grace is operating as an undercover agent for Special Branch on a mission to get close to the heart of Tommy’s gang. As the story unfolds, many hearts are broken.
Steven Knight: "Peaky Blinders has always had music and movement at its heart and now the beating heart of the show will be transferred to the stage, an interpretation of Tommy's story performed by Rambert, one of the leading dance companies in the world. This is dance for people who don't usually watch dance and what I've written has been transformed into something startling by consummate dancers and choreographers. If the concept of a Peaky Blinders dance seems strange, reserve judgement and reserve a ticket."
Swan Pouffer added: "Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby is something on a scale we've never done before, and I couldn't be more ready for the challenge - it's such an exciting opportunity as a choreographer to tell these stories and recreate these characters through dance.
"It is also a great collaborative opportunity to have been working closely with Steven Knight on this original production. What you're going to get as a result will be an inspiring and uplifting dance show, but so much more than a dance show. There is of course a strong narrative, that of Tommy and the Peaky Blinders so it is dance, and it is also theatre. And with such iconic music from a live-onstage band, it is more again. I can't wait to bring these hugely popular characters to the stage here in Birmingham, then on tour to audiences around the country."
After its London run, the show will tour to Norwich Theatre Royal (17 to 21 January 2023), Alhambra Theatre, Bradford (25 to 28 January), Hull New Theatre (31 January to 4 February), Mayflower Theatre, Southampton (7 to 11 February), Royal and Derngate, Northampton (21 to 25 February), Festival Theatre Edinburgh (28 February to 4 March), The Lowry, Salford (14 to 18 March), Wales Millenium Centre, Cardiff (21 to 25 March) and Theatre Royal Plymouth (28 March to 1 April).
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