Bloody Elle – A Gig Musical at the Royal Exchange
Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor
It’s been a long fifteen months since the Royal Exchange was forced to close its doors due to the coronavirus pandemic. Throughout the period of lockdown, we’ve all been yearning for live performance – live music and live theatre – and it looks like the Royal Exchange’s reopening show is a perfect combination of the two.
The Royal Exchange’s reopening show is a perfect combination of live music and live theatre.
Bloody Elle is a one-woman show written and performed by the brilliant Lauryn Redding telling the story of a young woman who falls in love for the first time. Featuring a blast of original new music, Bloody Elle takes its inspiration from Redding’s own experiences of being a young queer woman living in the North of England.
A heart-warming performance about growing up and coming out in the North.
The story centres around Elle, a working-class young woman, who meets a girl from London called Eve. The pair couldn’t be further apart in terms of their backgrounds – happy-go-lucky Elle works in a local chip shop and privately educated Eve is preparing to take up her place at Oxford University. A love story – packed with honesty and wit – this is a heart-warming performance about growing up and coming out in the North.
Directed by Bryony Shanahan, this uplifting gig musical is set to an original score, which Redding cleverly builds into loops and layers of sound – making you feel like there’s a ten-piece band on stage. Prepare to feel as though you’ve been transported to a sweaty sell-out gig in your favourite music venue. We can’t think of a more fitting production to lead the celebratory reopening of the Royal Exchange.
