The first casting has been announced for The Battle, a new comedy charting the bitter rivalry between 90s Britpop bands Oasis and Blur.
Prior to a planned West End run, the show is touring in 2026, starting at Birmingham Rep on 11 February 2026, and then visiting Leicester, Manchester, Bromley, Woking, Cheltenham, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Sheffield, London Richmond, Glasgow, York, Norwich, Nottingham, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Brighton, and Chester. See all dates here.
Gavin & Stacey star Mathew Horne will play Britpop music exec Andy Ross in this show, which is billed as a wickedly funny dive into one of the greatest rivalries in rock history, featuring legendary personalities and unforgettable clashes.
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.
Matthew Horne (Death in Paradise, Bad Education) is star of BBC’s BAFTA-winning Gavin & Stacey. His many stage credits include The Homecoming, Rain Man, Charley’s Aunt, Noises Off and The Tempest.
Horne is also set to star in Theatre Royal Bath’s new production of Samuel Beckett drama Endgame this autumn, alongside Douglas Hodge, Clive Francis, and Selina Cadell.
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, The Hunger Games on Stage).
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.
The Battle has good timing, given that Oasis’ Gallagher brothers, Liam and Noel, are reconciling on a major tour this year, starting next month in Cardiff.
Matthew Dunster’s other current projects include directing Lily Allen in Hedda, in a new adaptation by Dunster of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, opening at Theatre Royal Bath’s Ustinov Studio from 25 July 2025. In the autumn, his new production of The Hunger Games on Stage, written by Conor McPherson, is coming to new East London venue the Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre.
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.
Book The Battle tickets – UK Tour
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