Frances McNamee, Rebecca Trehearn and Kirsty Findlay will star in Ballad Lines at Southwark Playhouse Elephant.
This major new folk musical is set to play 8 weeks at Southwark Playhouse in London, from 23 January to 21 March 2026
Ballad Lines is co-created by award-winning Scottish singer-songwriter Finn Anderson (Islander, Streets) and award-winning director Tania Azevedo (& Juliet, But I’m a Cheerleader).
Blending original music with traditional Scottish, Irish and Appalachian ballads, the show explores identity, belonging and the ancestral stories that connect generations.
McNamee (Girl from the North Country) plays Sarah, a queer woman in New York drawn back to her folk roots; Olivier Award-winner Trehearn (Becoming Nancy, City of Angels, Show Boat) takes on the role of Betty; and Findlay (Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), reprises her role as Cait from an earlier Scottish version. All three feature on the show’s concept album, released in September.
They are joined by Sydney Sainté (The Great Privation, Or How to Flip Ten Cents into a Dollar) as Alix; Ally Kennard (The Creakers) as Jamie, Thomas, Ronan/Dance Captain; Yna Tresvalles (Six the Musical) as Jean; Gracie Lai (Jersey Boys) as Morna/Ancestor (covers Betty, Alix, Jamie, Thomas, Ronan, Shona); and Siân Louise Dowdalls (Diana: The Musical) as Shona/Ancestor (covers Sarah, Cait, Jean, Morna).
First developed under the title A Mother’s Song, Ballad Lines premiered at Scotland’s Macrobert Arts Centre in 2023. The London creative team includes set designer TK Hay, musical director Shonagh Murray, choreographer Tinovimbanashe Sibanda, costume designer Carly Brownbridge, lighting designer Simon Wilkinson and sound designer Andy Johnson.
A 17-track concept album, recorded by a guest cast was released last month. Get a first listen to some of the tracks from the show.
First-listen: ‘Change of Plan’ from Ballad Lines
Frances McNamee, Kirsty Findlay, and Parisa Shahmir perform ‘Change of Plan’ from new musical Ballad Lines.
Ballad Lines is lead produced by Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment and Kate Taylor for KT Producing and co-produced with Wolk Transfer Company and TRW Production. An earlier version of Ballad Lines was produced at Macrobert Arts Centre in 2023 by KT Producing and Macrobert Arts Centre.
Ballad Lines is playing at Southwark Playhouse Elephant in London from 23 January to 21 March 2026.
Book tickets to Ballad Lines at Southwark Playhouse Elephant in London
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