London Premiere

Conceived by composer and writer Finn Anderson (Islander) and director Tania Azevedo (But I'm A Cheerleader), folk musical Ballad Lines arrives at Southwark Playhouse Elephant in 2026! The production brings new writing together with centuries-old ballads reimagined for today, drawing on Scottish, Irish and Appalachian folk music heritage and performed live by an all-female band. Ballad Lines continues a development journey that began with its original commission at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Northwestern's American Music Theatre Project.

Ballad Lines follows Sarah, a queer woman living in present-day New York, who has distanced herself from the folk traditions of her upbringing. But when she encounters those songs once again, she is drawn into the lives of two women from earlier centuries: Cait, the Scottish wife of a minister in the 1600s, and Jean, a teenager in the 1700s in Ireland, uncovering the threads that link their reality with hers.