KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON Comes to Crewe, Blackburn and Blackpool

A big-hearted comedy performed in three non-theatre spaces in Northern Soul strongholds, Keep On Keepin' On is the story a dysfunctional family just trying to keep it together on a run-down northern high street. A sequel to Mick Martin's 2003 show Once Upon a Time in Wigan, the Bradford-born writer's high energy comedy sees teenage dreamers Eugene and Maxine, whose romance first ignited on the dance floor, now in their 60's. Life has spun them out of each other's arms, and Eugene is now a weekend DJ and a full-time disaster, barely keeping his Northern Soul themed discount shop afloat. When Maxine reappears with one more plea for help – this time for their son, newly released from jail – their ‘what could possibly go wrong' plan sets them spinning into chaos. A heartfelt story of resilience, family, and the power of music to keep us moving, even when times get tough, the production will be performed in a shop in Crewe, a working men's club in Blackburn and a library in Blackpool.

Neil Bell, who most recently appeared in the hit TV series Adolescence as Sgt Golding and was recurring character Terry Pickforth in Emmerdale (2022), will be playing Eugene. He'll be joined by Caroline Chesworth (All Creatures Great & Small, Brassic and Coronation Street) as Maxine. The cast also includes Laura Bayston (Killing Eve and Slow Horses), Ashley Luke Lloyd (Billy Elliot and Whistle Down The Wind) and Christine Walsh (Tin Star, Ridley and Emmerdale).

In each area the show visits, the theatre company will be conducting workshops and outreach, using the themes the play to connect town centre businesses with local authorities and Business Improvement District (BIDs) as a way of starting conversations to generate real change. Foregrounding the challenges facing town centre businesses through the story of a working-class family, theatre company Northern Soul Productions is working with local communities aims to reinvigorate the high street and nighttime economies.

Mick Martin said, “A few years ago I directed a production of Once Upon A Time In Wigan that toured to northern soul weekenders, 8000 soulies loving it! Gazing out across a packed dance floor at Skegness Butlins, it occurred to me Eugene and Maxine, the two leads from the first play, are out there now, still dancing and loving every second of it. I began to wonder, what has life done to them since I left them? And how would they be coping in this much changed and still rapidly changing world of today? Gradually the nuts and bolts of a new play began to form, about Eugene and Maxine and the scene today, also the working-class town they come from, like many others struggling to reinvent itself, lined with empty shops. As well as a comedy of a dysfunctional northern soul family, Keep On Keepin' On reflects and talks about the country as it is now - all set to a blistering soundtrack.”