Teenage Kicks - The Punk Musical So Hard To Beat
15th October 2013
Deputy Mayor of Derry Alderman Gary Middleton joined award-winning author Colin Bateman and some of the cast of Teenage Kicks - The Punk Musical to get 'punk'd' ahead of the much anticipated stage show.
The production, which is funded by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, will run from 1st-9th November in Derry's Millennium Forum as part of the city's UK City of Culture celebrations.
The group complete with leather jackets, Lord Anthonys and DM boots larked around in Bull Park - the spiritual playground of Derry's 1970s punk scene.
Jackie O' Sullivan, from the National Lottery said: "The National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Big Lottery Fund has invested more than £2 million in productions and projects related to Derry's year as UK City of Culture.
"We hope all of these will not only provide entertainment and enjoyment but engagement and education too and work towards leaving a lasting legacy.
"National Lottery players can be proud to have funded Teenage Kicks - The Punk Musical which promises to be hard to beat as one of the highlights of the City of Culture programme."
Colin Bateman, writer of Teenage Kicks - The Punk Musical, added: "Music and punk rock have always been very important to me so to put those two things together and write Teenage Kicks is really exciting.
"Teenage Kicks is much more than just the music of the Undertones and other punk bands. It is about all the things that matter to teenagers no matter what era they grew up in.
"It will have something for everyone to relate to whether they grew up in the 70s or are much younger and don't know the music - though they soon will! To work on this project with the Millennium Forum, the Nerve Centre thanks to National Lottery funding through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland has been a teenage dream come true."
Notes to editors
Teenage Kicks will run from 1-9 November at the Millennium Forum, Derry. For ticket information visit http://www.millenniumforum.co.uk/content/teenage-kicks-punk-musical
Teenage Kicks is produced by the Millennium Forum and Nerve Centre, Derry and was awarded £50,000 from the National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
Teenage Kicks is written by the award winning screenwriter and novelist Colin Bateman (Divorcing Jack, Murphy's Law) and directed by Des Kennedy (Once - the Musical, Vernon God Little)
National Lottery players raise more than £35 million a week for projects. To find projects in your area, go to www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk
Pics by Martin McKeown L-R Ben Kerr, Mikey-Jay Heath, Keith Lynch (cast members), Colin Bateman, Alderman Gary Middleton, deputy mayor of Derry.
For further information please contact:
Ruairi O’Kane at the National Lottery on 07788 612804 or ruairi.o’kane@lotterygoodcauses.org.uk