![Oasis vs. Blur comedy The Battle cancels tour but Birmingham & Manchester to go ahead [Updated]](https://www.westendtheatre.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/The-Battle-Set-to-tour-and-play-the-West-End-in-2026.jpg "Oasis vs. Blur comedy The Battle cancels tour but Birmingham & Manchester to go ahead [Updated]")
New comedy The Battle, charting the bitter rivalry between 90s Britpop bands Oasis and Blur, has cancelled its UK tour.
However, the show is still premiering at Birmingham Rep from 11 February to 7 March 2026 as scheduled, and will also play its Manchester date at Manchester Opera House from 17 to 21 March 2026.
The tour was originally billed as being prior to the West End.
Cancelled tour dates include Leicester, Bromley, Woking, Cheltenham, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Sheffield, London Richmond, Glasgow, York, Norwich, Nottingham, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Brighton, and Chester.
Any ticket holders for the cancelled dates will be contacted by their point of purchase.
A statement from the producers released on a number of the tour venues’ websites says: “We are sorry to announce the cancellation of the forthcoming tour of The Battle as the scale of the production has proven to make a weekly tour unviable around the country. In order to protect the integrity of the work the producers have made the decision not to proceed with the tour as planned. We know this news will be disappointing to many who were looking forward to experiencing the production and we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
The Battle is produced by Life of Pi producers Melting Pot (The Girl on the Train, Ghost Stories, Paranormal Activity ), the new name for Simon Friend Entertainment, Birmingham Rep, and Gavin Kalin.
Last week, Melting Pot announced a UK tour for the new production of John le Carré’s The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, with the show taking a number of The Battle’s tour slots.
Billed as a wickedly funny dive into one of the greatest rivalries in rock history,The Battle is set to star Gavin & Stacey’s Mathew Horne (Death in Paradise, Bad Education) as Britpop music exec Andy Ross.
Further casting is to be announced. It’s not currently known whether Noel and Liam Gallagher, Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James, and Dave Rowntree will be represented in the show. Neither Oasis nor Blur are involved in the production.
More about The Battle
Written by former indie rocker and A&R executive John Niven (Kill Your Friends), the comedy is directed by Matthew Dunster (2:22 A Ghost Story), who is currently directing The Hunger Games on Stage which opens on 20 October in London.
Set in London in 1995, and mostly based on real events, two of the country’s biggest bands release singles on the same day, beginning the battle of Britpop. On one side, clean-cut, art-school Londoners Blur. On the other: raw and unapologetic lads from Manchester, Oasis.
Rivalries flare, friendships fracture and at the centre of it all a mania that would define an era.
Joining Matthew Dunster in the creative team are: Set and costume design by Fly Davis, Lighting design by Jessica Hung Han Yun, Sound design by Ian Dickinson, Video design by Tal Rosner, and casting by Claire Bleasdale.
Book The Battle tickets – Birmingham & Manchester
UPDATES: First published 6 October 2025; Updated 8 October 2025 with a statement from the producers
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