Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and Hull Truck Theatre in association with Oldham Coliseum Theatre present

The Hired Man

Book by Melvyn Bragg

Music and Lyrics by Howard Goodall

The best British musical in 40 years

Cumbria, 1898. Whippet racing, hiring fairs, hunting and drunken antics collide, in this passionate story of John and Emily, a young married couple, and their moving struggle to carve a living from the land.

An epic and heroic tale of love, betrayal and loyalty, set against a backdrop of English country traditions being swept away as a new century faces the gathering storm of war…

Based on the stirring novel by Melvyn Bragg, with a superb score of rousing foot stomping rhythms and soaring choruses by Howard Goodall, the award-winning composer of West End hits Bend It Like Beckham and Love Story.

‘Bracing, rugged and exhilarating’ Time Out

‘.. score is one of the finest I have heard in a British musical’ The Guardian