Sammy Lacey - Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads

This production was part of a 3 month placement with the production manager working on both Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads & The Wizard of Oz. I had contacted the PM directly as we worked together on a previous production. During this part of my placement I joined from the fit-up onwards, this production was being put on in a Speigeltent which was home to this production followed by a 2 week period of fringe productions. We had a 3 week fit-up period, from marking up on site ready for the tent's arrival followed by building the set into the tent.

Saturday 7 October. Gina, landlady of The King George pub, has a lot on her plate. The England vs Germany World Cup qualifying match is about to start, the pub football team is about to charge in and the TV’s on the blink.

Over the next few hours, national defeat looms and xenophobic tensions rise, fuelled by the inarticulate fury of the pub team captain, Lawrie, and the insidious propaganda of right-wing extremist Alan. And while policeman Lee struggles to keep the peace, disillusioned squaddie Mark and Gina’s bullied son Glen are fighting their own demons.

Premiered at the National Theatre in 2002, Roy Williams’s ferocious, funny and disturbing play takes aim at what it means to be black, white and English in twenty-first century Britain. Scoring high on foul language, threat and vulgar humour, Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads is definitely not for the faint of heart.

Roy Williams’s award-winning plays have also been staged at the RSC and the Royal Court. Nicole Charles’s recent work includes Emilia at Shakespeare’s Globe and in the West End.

Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads will be performed in The Spiegeltent, which will be transformed into a pub setting to create an immersive theatrical experience.

Photo by Manuel Harlan