Theatre News

Young Vic's The Scottsboro Boys confirms West End transfer

The acclaimed production will run at the Garrick Theatre from 4 October

On the move: The Scottsboro Boys at the Young Vic
On the move: The Scottsboro Boys at the Young Vic
© Richard Hubert Smith

As previously tipped, the Young Vic's production of The Scottsboro Boys will transfer to the West End later this year.

The production, directed and choreographed by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman, will open at the Garrick Theatre on 20 October 2014, following previews from 4 October.

Tickets go on general sale tomorrow (30 April 2014).

The Scottsboro Boys, Kander and Ebb's final musical, premiered Off-Broadway in 2010. It tells the true story of nine young black men, aged between 12 and 19, who were falsely accused of rape by two white women while travelling on a train through Scottsboro, Alabama in the 1930s. Their subsequent trials and appeals, lasting seven years, deeply divided the nation.

Only last year the Scottsboro Boys Act was finally passed, posthumously exonerating the last eight of the nine boys.

Forrest McClendon (Mr Tambo) and Colman Domingo (Mr Bones) in the Young Vic production
Forrest McClendon (Mr Tambo) and Colman Domingo (Mr Bones) in the Young Vic production
© Richard Hubert Smith

The Scottsboro Boys was nominated for 12 Tony Awards on Broadway and six Olivier Awards following the Young Vic run, in addition to winning the Critics' Circle award for Best Musical last year.

The production features set design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Toni-Leslie James, lighting design by Ken Billington, sound design by Paul Arditti and orchestration by Larry Hochman.

Casting for the West End transfer is still to be announced.

The Scottsboro Boys is produced by Catherine Schreiber, Paula Marie Black and the Young Vic.