Babyface – The Fierce Wrestling Musical cast revealed for work-in-progress performances

A brand new musical is getting two work-in-progress performances next month.

Babyface – The Fierce Wrestling Musical is the new show by Seiriol Davies (How To Win Against History), and is a rags-to-spandex story of two tender queer souls from Rhyl, climbing the ranks of an industry where selling your persona is everything.

The new musical will be showcased at Storyhouse in Chester on 11 February 2026, and at Pleasance in London on 13 February 2026.

The Babyface cast will include James Ifan (Kinky Boots), Rex Hayes (To Kill a Mockingbird, Ted Lasso), Genesis Lynea (Six The Musical, Sylvia, Doctor Who) and lestyn Arwel (Burn, Burn, Burn).

Also joining the cast are musical theatre performers Cadi Mullane, Nic Myers and Elis Myers-Sleight, alongside professional wrestlers Nightshade, KM Lane, Cassius The Neon Explosion and Darcy Stone.

Babyface - The Fierce Wrestling Musical. Casting. James Ifan, Rex Hayes, Genesis Lynea, lestyn Arwel (Photos via PR) — *Babyface – The Fierce Wrestling Musical. Casting. James Ifan, Rex Hayes, Genesis Lynea, lestyn Arwel (Photos via PR)*

In the show, Gruff wants to be a poet but his Nanna Dela needs money to keep the local bailiffs at bay; so Gruff must follow the path of his late grandad, the legendary wrestler Rhyl Dryll. Rezi wants to be the first ever female wrestling world champion. But can their friendship survive this crazy, sweaty, hyper-charged world? Will they turn into villains, or will they be… Babyfaces?

Promising actual wrestling in an actual ring, the show is billed as a laugh-out-loud thrill ride that asks: in a polarised world, what happens when your need for community conflicts with your urge to WIN?

Babyface was first presented in May 2025 in Birmingham as part of BEAM2025, with producer Jafar Iqbal now partnering with West End production company PW Productions.