PIONEERING DOCUMENTARY MUSICAL GOOD GOLLY MISS MOLLY RETURNS TO MARK NEW VIC’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY
PIONEERING DOCUMENTARY MUSICAL GOOD GOLLY MISS MOLLY RETURNS TO MARK NEW VIC’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY
23rd February 2026
- Originally produced by the New Vic in 1989, Good Golly Miss Molly will be revived as part of the theatre-in-the-round’s 40th anniversary programme.
- Writer/director Bob Eaton returns to direct a cast of ten actor-musicians including original cast member Richard Hague.
The pioneering documentary rock musical that helped define the New Vic Theatre’s signature actor-musician style will return to the theatre this April after a 33-year hiatus to mark the organisation’s 40th anniversary celebrations. Originally produced in 1989, Good Golly Miss Molly combines live rock ‘n’ roll music with drama to tell the story of a local community fighting to save their homes from demolition, against a backdrop of social turmoil.
Inspired by conversations with residents at the centre of a real housing dispute in Tunstall in the late 1980s, the production was created by writer and director Bob Eaton. It was among the earliest actor-musician documentary musicals of its kind and was revived at the New Vic in 1991 and 1993 before transferring to London’s West End Arts Theatre.
The 10-strong cast of actor-musicians creating this revival includes David Ahmad (Jago’s Box, The Haunting, New Vic); Samuel Brenton (Unbelievable, Criterion Theatre, West End); Shirley Darroch (Chicago, Oldham Coliseum); Jim Duah (Murder On The Orient Express, International Tour); Georgina Field (Midlife Cowboy, Pleasance Theatre); Matthew Ganley (The Nutcracker, The Snow Queen, New Vic); Richard Hague (original production of Good Golly Miss Molly, The Dirty Hill, New Vic); Adam Langstaff (Tommy, UK Tour); Conor Litten (The Commitments, UK and Ireland Tour) and Alice McKenna (Girls Don’t Play Guitars, Royal Court Liverpool).
Director 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. For more information visit newvictheatre.org.uk or call the New Vic Box Office on 01782 717962.
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