How Soon is Now? at Lowry

The ever-brilliant Box of Tricks return to Lowry this autumn with their most ambitious production yet. For 20 years, the Manchester-based company has championed bold new writing and Northern voices, and their name attached to a production is usually reason enough to check it out.

How Soon is Now? is a brand-new indie musical set on New Year’s Eve, 1997. Manchester is buzzing, the DJ is in full flow and the dancefloor is packed. Polly and Angie are ready for a big night, while Jean arrives lost and alone. Against a backdrop of club culture, indie anthems and that strange sense of possibility that came with a new government and a new millennium approaching, the three women find themselves pulled together.

Written by acclaimed playwright Siân Owen, the show places female friendship, identity and hope right at its heart. Rather than simply leaning on 90s nostalgia, it uses the music and atmosphere of the era to explore what it means to find your people, particularly at a moment when everything feels like it might be about to change.

The music is central to the show. A live soundtrack of indie classics by the likes of The Stone Roses, Radiohead and The Smiths runs throughout the show, with actor-musicians helping to create the feel of a proper night out rather than a conventional musical.

Of the show, writer Siân Owen told us, “I want audiences to feel like they’ve walked into the middle of a nightclub where a story is unfolding around them full of laughter, heartbreak, music and magic. But above all I hope people leave feeling lighter than when they arrived. It’s really a love song to music, friendship, courage and remembering that together we can all find glimmers of hope.”

For Box of Tricks, How Soon is Now? also marks a significant moment. Ten years in the making, it arrives during the company’s 20th anniversary year before heading out on a UK tour.

Expect mates, music, messy emotions and a big dose of Manchester spirit.