FIXING, A Drag Show About Family Break-Ups and Car Breakdowns to Launch Autumn Tour
Up first is a performance at Lawrence Batley Theatre in November.
Fixing - a show by Matt Miller and Peader Kirk about family breakups and trying to make things better, learning car maintenance and choosing the right shade of lipstick to do it in - is heading on tour this Autumn.
When Matt was little, their dad bought a classic car. A 1952 Sunbeam Talbot Mark II. Dad had ideas that he and Matt would do it up, repair, rebuild together. They never did, and the car festered in a garage. I mean, Dad had just been through a divorce. Now in their 30's, Matt would like to learn how to fix a car engine. They'd like to learn a bit more about Dad, and that time, when Dad and Mum split up. The time when Matt and Dad were closest. Matt can't do this alone, which is tricky for a solo show. That's where Matt's drag alter-ego Natalie Spanner comes in. She knows all about things that girls like Natalie know about. Like how to build an engine. About maintenance, care and repair. Together, Matt and Natalie will try to ask, in an increasingly broken world, how might we repair ourselves, together?
At a time when connections in the world seem to be breaking down more than ever, through global divisive politics, but also on a one-to-one level, Fixing seeks to initiate conversations around care, nurture, rupture and recovery. Fixing invites audiences to consider what maintenance means to them in the context of personal relationships.
Fixing, which premiered last year at Newcastle's Alphabetti Theatre, is the third full length show that Matt and Peader have made together and their first foray into the world of drag. Throughout their work, Matt and Peader combine personal stories and bigger social questions to create work which is entertaining and thought provoking for a range of audiences.
The Fixing tour will visit Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield (5 November), Queen's Hall Arts Centre in Hexham (6 November), The Garage in Norwich (13 November) and Sheffield Theatres (19 November). Further tour dates in Spring 2026 are to be announced.
PERFORMANCE DATES
Show title: Fixing
Age Guidance: 14+.
Running Time: 75 minutes
Wednesday 5 November Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield
www.thelbt.org/what-s-on/drama/fixing
Thursday 6 November Queen's Hall Arts Centre, Hexham
www.queenshall.co.uk/whats-on/fixing
Thursday 13 November The Garage, Norwich
www.thegarage.org.uk/shows/fixing
Wednesday 19 November Sheffield Theatres
www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/events/fixing
ABOUT FIXING
Fixing has been previously developed at Upstairs at the Western, Leicester, and White Rock Theatre, Hastings and a work in progress was shown at Queen's Hall Hexham for Hexham's inaugural Pride Festival in June 2023. In 2024, Fixing secured Arts Council England funding for full development and had a world premiere run at Newcastle's Alphabetti Theatre. Fixing tour is funded by ACE and co-production partners include Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle; Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester; Arc Stockton Arts Centre; Nottingham Playhouse and University of Bedfordshire.
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