PRIDE to begin Bridge Theatre transfer in November 2026
PRIDE will transfer to London’s 900-seat Bridge Theatre, beginning performances on 12 November 2026 and running until 8 May 2027. Announced on 25 August, the commercial season follows the new musical’s engagements in Cardiff and at the National Theatre, whose Dorfman season is scheduled to end on 12 September. General booking for the Bridge opens at 10am on 2 September. The engagement will be the venue’s first production under Trafalgar Entertainment.
The transfer was announced by P&P Productions in association with the National Theatre, Pathé, Calamity Films and David Binder Productions. The National Theatre remains in the announced producing line-up as the musical moves into a commercial London venue. For the Bridge, the season follows Trafalgar Entertainment’s acquisition of the London Theatre Company and begins the theatre’s programme under its new owner. The producers have not detailed whether the staging, orchestration or design will change for the Bridge, leaving the extent of any adjustments for its auditorium unconfirmed.
The production first played a preview engagement at Cardiff’s Sherman Theatre from 31 March to 18 April 2026. It then moved to the National Theatre’s Dorfman Theatre, where its season began on 11 June. Official producer and National Theatre material designates the Cardiff dates as a preview run and the Dorfman engagement as the musical’s world premiere.
Producer and venue material describes both the Cardiff and National Theatre engagements as sold out. It also says the Cardiff run broke records, but no underlying sales totals or record category have been published. Critical reception is documented separately on the official Bridge Theatre page, which highlights five-star reviews from The Guardian, Financial Times, Daily Mail, Time Out, The i and Sunday Express following the National Theatre engagement.
Initial casting for the Bridge transfer comprises Samuel Barnett as Jonathan, Matthew Durkan as Mike, Gillian Elisa as Gwen, Chris Jenkins as Gethin, Darren Lawrence as Cliff and Kirsty Malpass as Hefina. Madeleine Morgan will appear in the ensemble, with Sarah Pugh as Siân, Caroline Sheen as Maureen, Courtney Stapleton as Steph and Matthew Woodyatt as Dai. These names constitute the initial announcement rather than the complete Bridge company. Further casting, including several central roles, remains to be announced, and the transfer material does not state that the full National Theatre cast will move with the production.
PRIDE is based on the 2014 film written by Stephen Beresford and directed by Matthew Warchus. Both have returned for the stage adaptation, maintaining the film’s writer-director partnership while reshaping the material as a musical. Beresford has written the book and lyrics, while Warchus developed and directs the production.
The original score is by Christopher Nightingale, Josh Cohen and DJ Walde. Its musical vocabulary draws on protest anthems, pop, rock, disco and the Welsh choral tradition. The principal team also includes set and costume designer Bunny Christie, choreographer Lizzi Gee, music supervisor Tom Kelly, lighting designer Hugh Vanstone, sound designer Bobby Aitken and casting director David Grindrod.
The musical follows Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners and the group’s alliance with a South Wales mining community during the 1984 miners’ strike. The story centres on 24-year-old activist Mark Ashton as the relationship between the two communities develops. Those historical events inspired both the film and musical, but the stage work uses them as the foundation for a dramatised narrative rather than a documentary account.
In an interview published by The Independent, Warchus said the idea of creating a musical had been developing since the film. He described a comparatively simple, handmade and gritty theatrical language intended to retain political authenticity while allowing the comedy to work in live performance. The Independent has also reported Beresford’s view that presenting the story live intensifies its communal effect. He has observed that the production has prompted some audience members to connect with strangers around them. Together, their accounts place the shared experience in the auditorium alongside the production’s deliberately rough-edged theatrical style.
The Bridge lists a running time of two hours and 40 minutes, including a 20-minute interval, and age guidance of 12+. Priority-member booking opens at 10am on 26 August, followed by advance-member booking at 10am on 1 September. No separate press night or official opening date has been published, so 12 November should be treated as the first performance rather than an opening-night date. For Australian audiences, no local season, tour, cinema screening or distribution plan has been announced. There is also no confirmed cast recording or plan beyond the currently advertised Bridge season.
