RUM Will Embark on UK Tour

Touring the UK following its short run at the Edinburgh Fringe 2024, RUM follows Danny who has been plastering since he was a kid, he's not scared of anything, he's RUM. He's been up all night and now he's rushing to finish a job before he has to give the speech of his life. 

RUM explores what happens when you lack the language or tools to speak about your emotions, interrogating how poor mental health, the celebration of violence and stigma around vulnerability often go hand-in-hand. This debut is written and performed by plasterer and actor Joe Mallalieu whose family have been in the building trade for three generations. 

Writer and performer Joe Mallalieu said: “In its simplest form, I'd say it's a play from the north west, to the working class. About the men of the working class. 

“The play takes an honest look at men from the building trade, it's a fly on the wall to how men survive in the industry. Stories worth telling, and things better left unsaid. 

“I'm ecstatic about the tour! My producer told me there would be an interest after how it was received in Edinburgh, and I wanted to take this to different places and communities in the UK, so yeah, couldn't be happier. I think it's a unique piece of work, and I'm proud of it, you know."

Director Tess Seddon said: "I am delighted that RUM is going on tour. It was extraordinary watching how deeply this powerful show touched audiences in Edinburgh and I am so excited for more people to experience it across the UK. RUM is strikingly honest, and unashamedly raw. Joe's multi-layered and charismatic performance as Danny the macho plasterer on the run from his feelings is hilarious, shocking and tragic. Working with the design team we have created a pressure cooker of a production that will take audiences on a powerful journey. RUM is a play of such rare authenticity and irresistible honesty. It's a striking insight into toxic male culture in the building trade and beyond. It manages to present the complexity of a man who both wears the culture as a badge of honour and suffers within it.”

Lucas Whitehead, Head of Marketing and Partnerships, ANDYSMANCLUB, said: ”We're proud to be supporting RUM, a no holds-barred take on mental health and suicide in the construction industry. It is no coincidence that britain's most male-dominated industry has a problem with male suicide, and anything that artists, professionals or the public can do to shine a light on this is massively beneficial. 700 people a year take their lives in construction-related suicides. It is important to make noise about the importance of talking and openness and to create things that men who may be struggling can relate to. If this production can inspire one person to make a change in their life, and in turn prevent their suicide or suffering, then the production has done its job.” 

Tour Dates

ARC Theatre Stockton, Dovecot Street, Stockton-on-Tees, TS18 1LL
Saturday 24 - Monday 26 April 2025
7pm | Pay What You Decide
Box Office: 01642 525199 | arconline.co.uk

Storyhouse Chester (Garret Theatre),  Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR
Sunday 25 May 2025
7:30pm | £8-£14
Box Office: 01244 409113 | storyhouse.com

Birmingham Rep, 6 Centenary Square, Birmingham, B1 2EP
Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 May 2025
7:45pm | £12-£15
Box Office: 0121 236 4455 | birmingham-rep.co.uk

Blackpool Grand, 33 Church Street, Blackpool, FY1 1HT
Tuesday 3 June 2025
7pm | £12.50
Box Office: 01253 290190 | blackpoolgrand.co.uk

Live Theatre, 27-29 Broad Chare, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3DQ
Friday 6 and Saturday 7 June 2025
7:30pm | £14 (£12)
Box Office: 0191 232 1232  | live.org.uk

Bath Theatre Royal (Ustinov Studio), Saw Close, Bath, BA1 1ET
Tuesday 10 June 2025
7:30pm | £18 (£10)
Box Office: 01225 448844 | theatreroyal.org.uk

Sheffield Theatres, 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S1 1DA
Thursday 12 June 2025
7pm | £14 (£12) 
Box Office: 0114 249 6000 | sheffieldtheatres.com

Shakespeare North Playhouse , Prospero Place, Prescot, L34 3AB
Saturday 14 June 2025
7pm | £12
Box Office: 0151 433 7156 | shakespearenorthplayhouse.co.uk

Glastonbury Festival, Worthy Farm, Worthy Lane, Pilton, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 4BY
Friday 27 and Saturday 28 June 2025
7pm | Various prices
Box Office: Tickets sold out - resale of unsold tickets online in spring 2025 www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/