A verbatim musical based on the real life spate of murders in a sleepy Suffolk town – London Road was certainly an unlikely hit. But the bold play was a runaway success with two sellout runs, a critics circle award for 'best new musical' and now a film adaptation.

London Road: real story

Comprised solely of verbatim material collected and edited by playwright Alecky Blythe and then made into songs by Adam Cork and directed by the National Theatre's Rufus Norris, London Road is a story of shock and recovery. While the play's programming was met with some trepidation back in 2011 (was is cashing in on a tragedy? Would it exploit the murdered prostitutes?) it was soon evident that the focus on the community revealed a touching story of the way in which tragic crime has a ripple effect on those surrounding it. Merging a sense of suspicion with a universal dose of small town camaraderie and songs about hanging baskets, this musical is as heart-warming as it is thought-provoking.

"it's not about neatening it up. It's about catching those oddities of real speech" read our Alecky Blythe interview.

From stage to screen: London Road movie

The stars from the London Road play return for the film adaptation and are joined by more British talent to make up a star-studded ensemble cast: Kate Fleetwood, Olivia Coleman, Anita Dobson and Tom Hardy all just some of the stars. For what playwright turned screenwriter Alecky Blythe describes as 'sensitivity reasons' London Road was not filmed in the Ipswich streets that it depicts. But the visuals of front gardens, buses and market squares work well to evoke the sense of universality, that such events could happen anywhere. The increased action of a film means that some of the dialogue is lost, but fans of the musical will not be disappointed and the new film version still resonates both as a depiction of real life and an example of the ways in which the musical genre can enlighten even the darkest of subjects.

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What	London Road film 2015
Where	Various Locations \| MAP
Nearest tube	Acton Town (underground)
When	09 Jun 15 – 09 Aug 15, Check cinemas for listing times.
Price	£5 - £20
Website	Click here for London Road cinema listings and times

What the critics say

London Road play reviews

THE TELEGRAPH

"a production that speaks eloquently about the human condition in all its messy tragicomedy, while never straining for effect."

THE GUARDIAN

"Conventional musicals, even at their best, take us into a world of fantasy. This miraculously innovative show finds a new way of representing reality."

THE EVENING STANDARD

"It won't be to everyone's taste: it's often low-key and in places deliberately bumbling or raw. But this is a fresh, unsettling vision of a kind of ordinariness that rarely gets put on stage"