A stage play documenting the story of 1970s band Joy Division will tour to mark its 10th anniversary this autumn.
New Dawn Fades: A Play About Joy Division and Manchester is the story of four young men who, inspired by the punk revolution of 1970s Manchester, formed one of the most influential bands of the period.
The show – its title is that of a track on their first album, Unknown Pleasures – opens at the Sheffield Leadmill on September 1, followed by the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield (September 7), the Epstein Theatre in Liverpool (September 14), Chorley Theatre (September 18), Bury Met (September 21) and has its "homecoming" at Manchester's Royal Northern College of Music on September 29-30.
The short tour celebrates a decade of the stage show and more than 40 years since the release of Joy Division’s second and final album, Closer, in 1980.
New Dawn Fades is produced by Manchester production company All Roads Meet and directed by Sean Mason and Giles D Bastow – who have been an integral part of the show since its debut and are in the cast.
Cast members include Joe Walsh as Joy Division front man Ian Curtis; Leah Gray-Scaife as his wife Deborah Curtis; Alan Donohoe as equally-legendary Manchester music man Tony Wilson; Bill Bradshaw as Peter Hook; Matthew Melbourne as Stephen Morris; Sean Mason as Martin Hannett, Paul Morley, and Frederich Engels, and Giles D Bastow as the band's iconic manager Rob Gretton.
Brian Gorman's drama is based on his graphic novel of the same title and was an instant hit when it debuted at Manchester pub The Lass O’Gowrie in 2013.
Sean Mason said: “It’s about more than just the music and the memories, it’s about capturing a moment in time and a movement that gave voice to ordinary people, demanding to be heard.”
Info and tickets here