Award-winning theatre company Box of Tricks has announced the world premiere of How Soon is Now? a brand-new indie musical by acclaimed playwright Siân Owen, opening at Lowry on 01 October 2026 before embarking on a UK tour.
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Set to a live soundtrack of 90’s classics, against the backdrop of a generation-defining era of music, club culture and possibility, How Soon is Now? is an original new musical about female friendship, empowerment and hope. Celebrating Northern voices and featuring top tunes, it tells a story of mates, music and magic – finding your place and finding yourself. Featuring a live soundtrack of iconic indie anthems from the likes of The Stone Roses, Radiohead and The Smiths, it captures the highs and lows, darkness and light of a big night out on New Year’s Eve.
How Soon is Now? is presented by Box of Tricks, the Manchester-based theatre company dedicated to championing new work, bringing original voices to theatres nationwide and staging stories that resonate, inspire and entertain. Productions include Narvik (UK Theatre Award for Best New Play), SparkPlug (Sky Arts broadcast) and The Last Quiz Night on Earth (Guardian Best of Culture 2020). The production is the company’s most ambitious project to date as it celebrates its 20th anniversary.
Adam Quayle, Artistic Director, Box of Tricks said “Ten years in the making, How Soon is Now? is an electric story of female friendship and empowerment, driven by a live soundtrack of iconic indie classics. A reminder that even in the darkest moments, there is a light that never goes out. At a time when midscale touring faces increasing challenges, it means more than ever to share our biggest, boldest production to date with audiences across the country.”
Matt Eames, Director of Theatre & Performance at Lowry added: “Box of Tricks holds a unique place in the Northern ecology and their work with writers has become increasingly important in such a challenging context for producing new work.”
How Soon is Now? is written by one of the UK’s most exciting voices in contemporary theatre, the award-winning playwright Siân Owen. She is currently under commission with Michael Sheen’s Welsh National Theatre and wrote additional material for Under Milk Wood at the National Theatre. Her play Restoration won the Oxford Playhouse New Writing Competition, and she has been a member of the Royal Court Studio Group, Sherman Cymru Advanced Writers Group and BBC Writersroom’s Welsh Voices programme
Writer, Sian said: “I want audiences to feel like they’ve walked into the middle of a nightclub where a story is unfolding around them full of laughter, heartbreak, music and magic. But above all I hope people leave feeling lighter than when they arrived. It’s really a love song to music, friendship, courage and remembering that together we can all find glimmers of hope.”
Following its premiere at Lowry, the musical will also visit Bradford, Bristol, Chester, Exeter, Ipswich, Lancaster, Scarborough, Sheffield, Stockton and Wakefield.
LISTINGS
Lowry, Salford
01 – 03 October
Tickets are on sale now. Find out more atwww.thelowry.com
