Acclaimed choreographer Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell comes to Northampton this month

Exploring intoxicated tales from darkest Soho, this acclaimed show takes to the Derngate stage from Tuesday 15 to Saturday 19 July as part of a 2025 UK tour. Matthew Bourne himself will be taking part in a post-show talk after the Tuesday night performance.

In 1930s London ordinary people emerge from cheap boarding houses nightly to pour out their passions, hopes and dreams in the pubs and fog-bound streets of Soho and Fitzrovia. Step inside The Midnight Bell, a tavern where one particular lonely-hearts club gather to play out their lovelorn affairs of the heart; bitter comedies of longing, frustration, betrayal and redemption.

Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell is inspired by the work of the great English novelist and playwright Patrick Hamilton (Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky, Hangover Square, Gaslight) who created some of the most authentic fiction of his era; stories borne out of years of social interactions with the working man and woman at his favourite location - the London Pub.

The Midnight Bell premiered to great acclaim in 2021 and received five nominations at the 2022 National Dance Awards, with Matthew Bourne winning the award for Best Modern Choreography and Michela Meazza for Outstanding Female Modern Performance.

Matthew Bourne said “The Midnight Bell with its entangled tales of lonely souls, looking for love, was rather appropriately the piece that brought us back to National touring following nearly two years away due to the covid pandemic in 2021. At that time audiences and company were masked and socially distanced but immensely grateful to be back and particularly with a piece that explored the deep-rooted need for human connection. Touring was necessarily limited and audience confidence still slowly returning so I am particularly thrilled to be bringing back this heart-felt piece and to be presenting it in many venues for the first time. This was a truly collaborative work with all of my celebrated creative team delivering their very best work, along with an all-star cast of the cream of New Adventures most beloved stars along with the best of our emerging talent. We look forward to, once again, opening the doors of The Midnight Bell in 2025… please join us… mines a gin and tonic!”

Matthew Bourne once again joins forces with the Olivier and Tony award-winning team of Terry Davies (music), Lez Brotherston (set and costume design), Paule Constable (lighting design) and Paul Groothuis (sound design).

The cast features fourteen of New Adventures’ finest leading actor/dancers in roles that challenge and reveal the darker reaches of the human heart. They are Cordelia Braithwaite, Reece Causton, Glenn Graham, Daisy May Kemp, Hannah Kremer, Michela Meazza, Andy Monaghan, Liam Mower, Dominic North, Bryony Pennington, Edwin Ray, Danny Reubens, Ashley Shaw and Alan Vincent.

The Midnight Bell can be seen at Royal & Derngate from Tuesday 15 to Saturday 19 July at 7.30pm, with matinees at 2.30pm on Thursday and Saturday. Tickets can be booked online at www.royalandderngate.co.uk/matthew-bournes-midnight-bellor by calling Box Office on 01604 624811. The post-show talk, In Conversation with Matthew Bourne, is free to ticket holders for the Tuesday night performance.