BRAND-NEW MUSICAL FOURTEEN AGAIN Music & Lyrics Victoria Wood - Book Tom MacRae

Two of musical theatre’s most loved leading ladies will play best friends, RIA JONES (Lou) and SALLY ANN TRIPLETT (Peggy) in the world premiere of the brand-new musical FOURTEEN AGAIN at THE VICTORIA WOOD THEATRE, Bowness-on-Windermere from Friday 1 May to Saturday 6 June 2026 (press night Thursday 7 May) - just 36 performances in total! The excitement is palpable as FOURTEEN AGAIN premieres in the newly named THE VICTORIA WOOD THEATRE, and with Ria Jones and Sally Ann Triplett cast – all roads continue to lead back to Victoria. Both actors had worked alongside Victoria: Sally Ann created the role of Miss Berta in the original West End production of the musical Acorn Antiques, and Ria played Mrs Overall in the first national tour of Acorn Antiques directed by Victoria. Their extraordinary CVs read like an A-Z of musical theatre with Ria having starred in Evita, Les Misérables, 42nd Street, Sunset Boulevard, Chess, Godspell, Into The Woods, Victor/Victoria, Nine, Witches of Eastwick, Joseph and Sally Ann having starred in Mamma Mia, Cabaret, Chicago, Oklahoma!, Billy Elliott, Guys and Dolls, Jolson, Anything Goes, Grease, Cats, Follies – to name but a few of their individual credits! They are joined by Michael Chance (Stepping Out, South Pacific) and Jayne Ashley (Sister Act, Calander Girls).

Victoria Wood’s long-standing friendships, love of the Lake District and close connection to The Old Laundry Theatre comes full circle, as the intimate theatre is renamed THE VICTORIA WOOD THEATRE in honour of the much loved and talented star (official renaming 19 May). Her dear friends and the theatre’s owners, husband-and-wife team, Charlotte Scott and Roger Glossop MBE, have brought together an extraordinary production team for FOURTEEN AGAIN (see below), and most had worked with Victoria; including the writer and lyricist Tom MacRae (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie), who will bring a whole new generation of fans to Victoria’s genius music and lyrics, by creating a brand-new stage show.

The musical FOURTEEN AGAIN begins at the local Slimming Club, where Peggy (Triplett) is reunited with Lou (Jones), her best friend from school who she hasn’t seen since they were teenagers. As kids, no two friends were ever funnier or more fun, but here, now, today they are shadows of their younger selves - and a story unfolds of looking back to the future, full of comedy, love and pain, with Victoria’s amazing songs moving the musical fast forward.

As Tom says “I wanted to create a show that is genuinely dramatic and surprising, with high stakes and real tension, as well as celebrating Vic’s innate sense of comedy and the warmth of her world, populated with loveable, relatable characters and celebrating friendship. My starting point was The Ballad Of Barry And Freda. The one song that was tricky to place was Litter Bin about a teenage mum abandoning a child in a bin. It was just so sad. How could I introduce that idea into a comedy? And then I had a brainwave - and that unlocked an idea that the entire show is now built around. Left to my own devices, I would never have integrated such a tragic element into such an upbeat story. So, thanks Vic, my amazing and inspirational collaborator – I owe you one.”

A joyous new theatre name plus a brand-new musical - THE VICTORIA WOOD THEATRE and FOURTEEN AGAIN. Rehearsals start Tuesday 7 April (The tenth anniversary of Victoria Wood’s death is 20 April).

The start of something magical and a legacy so truly deserved for the legend that is Victoria Wood.

For photography and NEW logos please go to: HERE

FOURTEEN AGAIN at THE VICTORIA WOOD THEATRE Friday 1 May – Saturday 6 June 2026

Box Office: 015394 40872 www.victoriawoodtheatre.com Address: Crag Brow, Bowness-on-Windermere LA23 3BX Performances: 7.30pm - Tuesday - Saturday Matinees: 2.30pm – Wednesdays (NOT on 27/05) & Saturdays + Thursdays (from 14/05) Week of 26/05 there is NO Wed matinee but there is a Wednesday EVENING performance. Tickets: £25 / £35 / £40 (Preview tickets 1-6 May: £20, £30, £35) Group discounts available, Hardship & Student tickets £15 Press Night: Thursday 7 May 2026 Gala Night: Tuesday 19 May 2026 - Official theatre renaming with Sir Alan Ayckbourn (on film) + live brass band – in aid of the Victoria Wood Foundation.

FOURTEEN AGAIN CREATIVE TEAM Victoria Wood: Music and Lyrics. Tom MacRae - Book: Double BAFTA-nominated screenwriter, producer, Olivier-nominated playwright, author and songwriter, book-writer and lyricist of the global hit musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie both stage & film, TV includes Doctor Who, The Librarians: The Next Chapter – and wrote Fungus The Bogeyman, starring Victoria in her final acting role in 2015. Jonathan O’Boyle - Director: Award-winning director The Last Five Years West End, Hair 50th Anniversary, Barnum- Watermill Theatre/UK Tour 2026, Cruel Intentions TOP, Pippin: 50th Anniversary & Hunchback of Notre Dame concerts. Charlotte Scott - Producer: Charlotte, with her husband, Roger Glossop, created The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction (1991), The Old Laundry Theatre (1992), Trustee Victoria Wood Foundation. Nigel Lilley - MD & Musical Supervisor: Acorn Antiques West End, TV for Victoria Wood – That Day We Sang, Here We Are, Victoria Christmas Special; Talent OLT, Follies RNT, Next to Normal West End, Trustee Victoria Wood Foundation. Sammy Murray - Choreographer: TV, film & theatre That Day We Sang, Killing Eve, Victoria Wood’s Midlife Christmas. Roger Glossop - Set Design: Started his career at the Crucible Theatre Sheffield, over 65 productions for Alan Ayckbourn, West End includes: The Nerd , Chicago, Song & Dance, Arturo Ui, Annie Get Your Gun, Funny Turns - Victoria Wood & Geoffrey Durham, By Jeeves - Ayckbourn / Lloyd Webber, + RSC, RNT including House & Garden, The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction, Where is Peter Rabbit?, awarded the MBE for Services to Theatre & Live Performance in 2025. Jason Taylor - Lighting Design: Nomination Tony Award Journey’s End, West End RNT + 15 seasons at Regents Park Open Air Theatre, Waitress, Evita, Love Never Dies, Billy Elliot, over 20 productions for Alan Ayckbourn in Scarborough. Caroline Hughes - Costume Design: By Jeeves, Where is Peter Rabbit? Housewife 49, RSC, West End & Sheffield Crucible. Sam Glossop - Sound Design: Boy on the Roof, Teechers, Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon, Where Is Peter Rabbit? Caroline Dalton - Associate Designer: Cumbrian artist in residence and puppetry director. Stuart Burt CDG CSA - Casting Director: Oh Mary! Into The Woods, Cabaret, Standing at the Skies Edge, Just For One Day.
Tim Reid - Video Design: Theatre, Dance, Opera including The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction, Quiz, Oresteia, Candide. Mati Dalton - Animator: recent graduate of Vancouver Film School & University of Cumbria, The Peter Rabbit Café.

For further information, interviews please contact DGPR, Deborah Goodman: publicity@dgpr.co.uk , +44 (0)208 959 9980 +44 (0)7958 611218