Peaky Blinders Are Dancing Their Way Into Theatres

Peaky Blinders may be coming to an end on TV but it’s set to live on in theatres, after the show’s creator Steven Knight confirmed a new dance-theatre production.

Titled Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby, the production – a collaboration with the Rambert Dance Company – will feature a cast of 20 and a live band playing specially-commissioned music.

The production will focus on the romance between Tommy Shelby and undercover agent Grace Burgess – played on the small screen by Cillian Murphy and Annabelle Wallis.

Benoit Swan Pouffer, Rambert’s artistic director and choreographer, described the forthcoming show as an ‘inspiring and uplifting’ production.

Knight explained that the TV show ‘has always had music and movement at its heart and now the beating heart of the show will be transferred to the stage’. He added that the production ‘is dance for people who don’t usually watch dance’.

‘If the concept of a Peaky Blinders dance seems strange, reserve judgement and reserve a ticket,’ he added.

For those wondering how Knight’s writing might translate to the stage, he does have previous form. For instance, his play The President of an Empty Room was directed by Howard Davies at the National Theatre in London in 2005.

Pouffer will direct and choreograph the production and said that the show ‘is something on a scale we’ve never done before’ and that he ‘couldn’t be more ready for the challenge’.

Given the huge affinity the British public have with Peaky Blinders the TV show, he’s got a hell of a job on his hands.

Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby will premiere at the Birmingham Hippodrome, where it runs from September 27 to October 2. It will then move to London’s Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre (October 12 – November 6) before going round the world in 2023.