The Battle
Listed in The Telegraph as one of the best plays to book now!
London, 1995. Two of the country’s biggest bands release singles on the same day, commencing the battle of Britpop. On one side, clean-cut, art-school intellectuals from the South. On the other: raw and unapologetic lads from the North. Rivalries flare, friendships fracture and at the centre of it all a mania that would define an era – were you Blur or Oasis?
From the chaos of the Brit Awards to the infamous chart war, The Battle is a wickedly funny dive into one of the greatest rivalries in rock history. Featuring legendary personalities and unforgettable clashes, it was never just about the music, but power, pride, and uncontrollable competitiveness.
Expect filthy language and razor-sharp dialogue in this cut-throat new comedy that puts you right at the heart of the feuding, the fame, and the fallout.
Get ready to roll with it.
Directed by Matthew Dunster (Listed in The Stage’s 100 2026, director of 2:22 A Ghost Story and The Hunger Games: on Stage) and starring Mathew Horne (Gavin and Stacey) as the music industry executive who kicked off the race to No 1. between the two bands and Louisa Lytton (Eastenders, 2:22 A Ghost Story) as Meg.
Please note this is a fictionalised account of one of the biggest chart battles in Rock and Roll history, based on research and interviews, it features characters inspired by some very real-life individuals, and some composite characters and conversations entirely imagined by the writer.
Venue
Presented by
Birmingham Rep and Melting Pot
Written by
John Niven
Directed by
Matthew Dunster
Price
Special Offers
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Aged 16 to 25 Discounted tickets are available for this production for registered 16-25 members for performances on Wed 11 Feb, Wed 18 Feb and Wed 25 Feb. T&Cs apply – Find Out More
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Access Performances
Audio Described: Sat 28 Feb 2.30pm (described by Carolyn Smith)
A Free Touch Tour is available to book at 1pm before the Audio Described performance.
BSL Interpreted: Thu 26 Feb 7.30pm (interpreted by Hyacinth Powell)
Captioned: Thu 5 Mar 2.30pm & 7.30pm (captioned by Cara Lawless)
Chilled: Thu 26 Feb 2.30pm
Running Time
Approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes, including an interval.
Age Guidance
16+
Please note, no under 5s will be admitted to the auditorium.
Content Advice
This production contains sensitive content including frequent use of very strong language, strong bloody violence and depictions of drug use. Please note, a lot of stage blood is used in certain scenes.
This production will also contain haze, loud music, flashing and strobe lights.
Whose Side Were You On?
Cast
Brandon Bendell
Brandon trained at Mountview (3 year BA Acting). The Battle marks his professional stage debut.
Film credits include: Silver Haze (dir Sacha Polak)
TV credits include: The Rings of Power (Amazon), My Lady Jane (Amazon), The Devil’s Hour (Amazon)
Harriet Cains
Harriet trained with the Nottingham Television Workshop and is most notable for playing the regular role of ‘Philipa Featherington’ in the Shondaland epic Bridgerton for Netflix. You can also check her out in Half Bad (also for Netflix), the latest series of Marcella for ITV, No Offence for AbbottVision/C4 and hit Jed Mercurio series The Line of Duty. Lead regular roles include ‘Louisa Blackwell’ in ITV crime thriller Safe House alongside Christopher Eccleston and ‘Jem Walker’ in hit BBC series In The Flesh.
Harriet plays Theresa Keane in independent film SAIPAN alongside Eanna Hardwicke and Steve Coogan which premieres at this year’s London Film Festival. Next up on her slate are leading roles in feature films Video Killed The Radio Star and Vows.
Iona Champain
Iona trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Theatre credits include: Showcase of Women’s Writing (Bomb Factory Theatre), Falling Falling Falling Falling, Earthquakes in London and Julius Caesar (Richard Burton Theatre Company), Dream School (Mrs C’s Collective), Drag and Cabaret Showcase (SOHO Theatre) and Flushed (Theatre Unlocked).
Television credits include: Casualty (BBC) and The Third Day: Autumn (HBO, Sky, Punchdrunk).
Film credits include: Gobbl (Somesuch), Love Me, Hold Me, Always (Black Lab Films), Misper (Fresh Orange Productions), Sitter (Brother Film Ltd), Goldfish (Padula Productions), Ian After Beer (Rax Films), Gates (Pickup Films) and To the Sea (Rax Films).
Billy Dunmore
Theatre credits include: Apocalypse Laow (Artshole Productions); London With A Perfect Skyline, Romeo and Juliet (Exploding Whale).
Film and Television include: Surface (Series 2), Waterloo Road, Star Wars: Andor, Hustler (Short).
Tommy Garside
Tommy trained at The Manchester School of Theatre.
Television credits include: Falling (Channel 4), Sexy Beat (Paramount+), Bodies (Netflix/Moonage Pictures), Casualty (BBC), Father Brown (BBC), The Rising (Sky Studios).
Stage credits include: A Quiet Room (Tales of Other Mind), The Monster (New National Theatre Tokyo), The Duchess of Malfi (The Manchester School of Theatre), The Beau Defeated (The Manchester School of Theatre).
George Greenland
George trained at Mountview and has since gone on to work across TV, Film, Theatre and Audio.
Theatre credits include: Tell Me Straight (King’s Head Theatre & Chiswick Playhouse)
Television and film credits include: Generation Z (Channel 4), Everything Now (Netflix), Empire of Light (Neal Street), The Strays (Netflix), Eastenders (BBC), Callum The Midwife (BBC), .
Andy Ross
Mathew Horne
Mathew Horne
Damon
Oscar Lloyd
Oscar Lloyd
Louisa Lytton
Louisa is perhaps best known for playing the role of Ruby Allen for over two decades in BBC’s EastEnders.
Stage credits include: 2:22 A Ghost Story and The Girl on the Train, UK Tours.
Television credits include: Murdoch Mysteries, Amazon Prime and Edge of Heaven, ITV.
James Oates
Theatre credits include: Classic! (Hope Mill Theatre); Aladdin (New Theatre Royal); The Elf in the Room (Oldham Coliseum); North of Providence (Hope Mill Theatre); Finding Alice (The Lowry); Orphans (Hope Mill Theatre); Before Juliet (Manchester Shakespeare Company); Of Mice and Men (Blackburn Empire); Borstal Boy (Edinburgh Festival Fringe).
Television credits include: Suspect (ITV, Disney+); Odd Squad (BBC); Waterloo Road (Channel 4); The Other One (BBC); Ten Percent (Amazon Prime); Emmerdale (ITV); Lagging (BBC); Coronation Street (ITV); Paranoid (ITV); Doctors (BBC).
Film credits include: The Roots Manoeuvre (Amazon).
Paddy Stafford
Training: Manchester School of Theatre
Theatre credits include: Mojo (Redbrick); Too Much World All At Once (Box of Tricks), A Christmas Fair (Not Too Tame).
Television credit include: Unforgivable, Doctor Who.
Film credits include: Ultra, Kiddo, Fairview Park, Anon.
Will Taylor
Theatre: The Play That Goes Wrong (UK Tour); Seal Boy (Riverside Studios); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Stafford Gatehouse); Two Tribes (Leeds Playhouse); Poor Shirley Must Make Her Escape (The Nest – Chichester Festival Theatre); The New Musketeers (Trinity Theatre); Private Peaceful (Frinton Summer Theatre); One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Torch Theatre); The 56 (Battersea Arts Centre); E15 (UK Tour); The Iconoclasts (New Diorama); You and I (York Theatre Royal); Wonder Girl (Ovalhouse); Alphabet (Camden People’s Theatre); Departures: A Song Cycle (Pleasance Theatre).
Feature Film: Digger (Tom Cruise Productions/Warner Bros./Legendary Entertainment); The Running Man (Paramount Pictures); Deadbeat (Inside 75 Films).
Television: Mrs Davis (Warner Bros.); Holby City (BBC).
Radio: White Nights; Grief is the Thing with Feathers; Renaissance Man; Escape Kit; Body Tourists (all for BBC Radio 4).
George Usher
George is a recent graduate of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. The Battle is his professional theatre debut.
Television credits include: Casualty (BBC One)
Theatre credits whilst training include: This is Living, The Watsons, Treasure Island, Twelfth Night (Bristol Old Vic Theatre School)
Creative Team
Writer
John Niven
John Niven
John Niven is a novelist and screenwriter.
He was born in Ayrshire and is the author of 11 novels and the memoir, O Brother.
The Battle is his first stage play.
Director
Matthew Dunster
Matthew Dunster
Matthew Dunster is a theatre and film director and writer. He was born and raised in Oldham and now lives in Southeast London. Previously an actor, he has directed or written over sixty theatre shows, often with major national companies (including RSC, NT, Royal Court, Young Vic, Royal Exchange, Shakespeare’s Globe, The Bridge), as well as directing on the West End, Broadway and internationally. He has been the Associate Director of The Young Vic and Shakespeare’s Globe.
Theatre Credits Include: 2:22 A Ghost Story, which ran in the West End for 694 performances; Shirley Valentine and The Pillowman, (The Duke Of Yorks); The Homecoming (Young Vic); Dealer’s Choice (The Donmar); and The Hunger Games on Stage (Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre).
Matthew has been nominated for four Olivier Awards, and his Broadway production of Hangmen was nominated for five Tony’s.
Set and Costume Designer
Fly Davis
Fly Davis
Lighting Designer
Jessica Hung Han Yun
Jessica Hung Han Yun
Theatre includes: Hamlet, The Estate, Dick Whittington (National); Enormous Crocodile (UK/International Tour); Brigadoon, The Enormous Crocodile, Once on This Island (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Lyonesse (Harold Pinter); My Neighbour Totoro (Barbican), Hamlet Hail to the Thief (RSC); Speed (Bush); Wild Rose (Royal Lyceum); The Leftbehinds (National Theatre Schools Tour); Dr Strangelove (Noel Coward Theatre); Baghdaddy, The Glow, Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner, Living Newspaper: Edition 7, Pah-La (Royal Court); The Odyssey (Unicorn); The Mirror and the Light (Playful Productions/West End); The Good Person of Szechwan, The Band Plays On, She Loves Me (Sheffield Crucible); Straight Line Crazy (The Shed, New York/Bridge); The Glow, Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner (also Public Theatre, New York/Wooly Mammoth, Washingdon DC)
Awards Olivier Award and WhatsOnStage Award for Best Lighting Design for My Neighbour Totoro, Knight of Illumination Award for Plays and Off West End Award for Best Lighting Design for Equus.
Sound Designer
Ian Dickinson
Ian Dickinson
Ian is an award-winning sound designer with extensive credits in the UK and internationally.
Theatre Credits Include: Ballet Shoes (National Theatre); Waiting For Godot (Theatre Royal Haymarket); Fear of 13 (Donmar); Boys On The Verge of Tears (Soho); Alma Mater (Almeida); The Witches (National Theatre); 42nd Street (UK tour); 2:22 A Ghost Story (West End/Los Angeles & UK tours); The Ocean At The End Of The Lane (UK Tour/Duke of York’s); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare North Playhouse); COCK (Ambassador’s); Jerusalem (Apollo), Company (Broadway/West End), Hangmen (Broadway/West End), Uncle Vanya (Pinter Theatre), Translations, Small Island (National Theatre), Angels in America (National Theatre/Broadway).
Ian was the recipient of both an Olivier and Drama Desk Award for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (National Theatre/World-wide Tour). He has also received Olivier and Tony nominations for his work in London and on Broadway, most notably for Company, Angels in America, Rock & Roll, Jerusalem and 2:22.
Ian has been a member of the Autograph team since 2009.
Video Designer
Tal Rosner
Tal Rosner
Tal Rosner is a BAFTA-winning video artist known for crafting striking visual worlds for concerts, theatres, museums, and events worldwide. His work has been seen with major orchestras and bands, theatre and dance companies, and fashion brands and curators.
Theatre Credits Include: Video Design for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the XXII Commonwealth Games; Ainadamar (Scottish Opera/Detroit Opera/Welsh/National Opera/Metropolitan Opera); Next to Normal (West End/Donmar Warehouse).
Musical Project Credits include: The Pet Shop Boys Super Tour (worldwide); Rolling Stones’ No Filter European Tour (Treatment Studio). He has worked with the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and New World Symphony. He has made an evening-length immersive concert with Staatsoper Hannover and installations for the Barbican Centre and Centre Pompidou.
Rosner designed the video element for the DIVA (V&A) and MARNIFESTO (Marni) and creatively directed the content for Time Capsule and LVX (Louis Vuitton). He has collaborated with NYC collective TELFAR (SS20 runway show, Paris Fashion Week/AW20 installation, Pitti Uomo Florence)
Props Supervisor
Jamie Owens
Jamie Owens
Costume Supervisor
Kay Wilton
Kay Wilton
Kay worked for 30 years as a freelance designer/ maker for theatre, film, ballet and opera including shows at The Rep, Birmingham Royal Ballet and film and opera with director Ken Russell.
She joined The Rep as full time maker, milliner and costume supervisor in 2013 and was appointed head of department in 2017.
This was also the year that The Rep created NATIVITY! The Musical, one of her favourite shows to work on, well worth all the effort it took to create. The show is a joy to work on as well as to watch. It is everything that a Christmas show should have and the sparkle and shine we all need just now.
Animator
John O'Connor
John O'Connor
Fight Director
Maisie Carter for MC_Combat
Maisie Carter for MC_Combat
Maisie has worked as a fight director for the past five years. With a commitment to safety, storytelling and empowering actors she opened her own company, MC_Combat. It is dedicated to advocating for female fight performers and offering specialised training in stage and screen combat. Maisie hopes to continue pushing the boundaries and bringing stories to life through action.
Theatre Credits Include: The Land Of The Living And The Leftbehinds (National Theatre); Art (Repertory Philippines); Clueless (Trafalgar Theatre); Romeo And Juliet, Comedy Of Errors, The Crucible And The Tempest (Shakespeare’s Globe); Da Vinci Code (Salisbury Playhouse); Backstroke (Donmar), Reykjavik, The Divine Mrs S, Animal Kingdom, Malindadzimu (Hampstead Theatre); The Clinic (Almeida); Favour, Fair Play (Bush Theatre); Ministry Of Lesbian Affairs, Lava (Soho Theatre); The Hunger Games (Troubadour); Kiss Me Kate (Barbican); An Officer And A Gentleman, Bugsy Malone (UK Tours); The Drifter’s Girl (Garrick Theatre), Les Misérables (Sondheim Theatre)
Film & TV Credits Include: Gavin & Stacey: The Finale (Tidy/BBc); The Wasp (XYZ Films), The Forge (Mind Engagement Productions)
Casting Director
Claire Bleasdale
Claire Bleasdale
Claire trained as an actor at Manchester School of Theatre (1999 – 2002) and worked professionally in theatre, film, television, and radio before moving into casting.
She has worked for many years in independent film, having cast the BAFTA winning film Cowboy Dave and other award-winning films including Requiem, starring Bella Ramsey and Matthew Dunster’s directorial film debut Judy, starring Maxine Peake.
Theatre Credits include: Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard my Richard and (Shakespeare North Playhouse); Dystopia 987 and the opening of Factory International Free Your Mind (Manchester International Festival).
Television credits include: five series of the Broadcast digital award and BAFTA nominated Meet the Richardsons.
Associate Director
Robyn Grant
Robyn Grant
Robyn is a theatre director and writer from Leeds.
Productions include: Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch (The Other Palace); The Hunger Games on Stage (Troubadour Canary Wharf); Dealer’s Choice (Donmar); The Jingleclaw (Birmingham Hippodrome); 2:22 A Ghost Story (West End and UK tour); The Lightning Thief (Chichester Conservatoire); Waiter there’s a Murder in my Soup (Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre); Beauty and the Beast (Kings Head Theatre), Vulvarine (Kings Head Theatre); BUZZ: A New Musical (The Pleasance).
Musical Director
Christopher Mundy
Christopher Mundy
Voice/Dialect Coach