Shobna Gulati stuns in new trailer video for Jim Cartwright’s “Road” (1986), which was the first play to be performed at the prestigious Royal Court Theatre’s Upstairs space.
By Hamza Jahanzeb
04 November 2025
The play “Road” is by far one the most revered by British playwright Jim Cartwright, and this iteration will feature Shobna Gulati, Lucy Beaumont, Lesley Joseph, Johnny Vegas, and with special guest Sir Tom Courtenay on film. I remember partaking in a study of Cartwright plays during my time at Sixth Form (studying A-Level Drama and Theatre, where I myself performed in the two-hander aptly titled “Two” – as a matter of fact! It will be great on a personal level for me to re-visit Cartwright, in this seminal play which was heralded as being a real unique portrayal of the northern working-class experience when it was originally produced.
The play explores the lives of the people in a deprived, working class area of Lancashire (MY HOMETOWN!) during the government of Margaret Thatcher, which was a time of high unemployment in the north of England. Long before I were born, mind (I’m a 90s b*txh as the famous Icona Pop song goes).
Despite its rather explicit nature, it was considered extremely effective in portraying the sheer desperation of people’s lives at this time, as well as containing a great deal of humour by the ladleful. Set on a road on a busy night, audiences delve into each of the houses on the street and the characters’ intricate lives.
‘Road’s coming round us!‘
It’s 1986. Your rumbustious chaperone Scullery guides you down the road, picking up the raucous and the ready for it, as ‘owt can happen tonight’. From dusk till dawn, the hopelessly hilarious and divinely desperate laugh, sing, dance and eat chips – all searching for something different.
Jim Cartwright’s award-winning play invites you to immerse yourself into the lives of the inhabitants on an unforgettable journey. At time, shockingly relevant to our lives today the play’s visceral, eloquent poetry paints a tough world with tenderness.
Directed by Royal Exchange Theatre’s Artistic Director Selina Cartmell (the original iteration was directed by Simon Curtis),, this revival will mark the 40th anniversary of the play itself and 70-years since the Royal Exchange opened. Touted by the producing house as an ‘exhilarating theatrical experience’, audiences are going to be invited to explore the Royal Exchange before taking their seats in the theatre. Can I get an ‘Ooooh’?
‘You want something different. Stay, I mean it.’
Do comment if you’ve been to the Royal Exchange in Manchester, or if this would be of interest to you? I’d love to hear where you lovely readers are from, and what it would take for you to go to Manchester. I really hope you’ll take some time to spend a weekend up north, and see Lanky Twang (the Lancashire accent) as I do miss hearing the familiar tones of the streets I grew up in myself.
I love hearing what you go along to, and what sorts of productions get you excited to return to the darkened theatre to watch a performance.
You can watch the trailer, here.
Ciao for now, poppets!
Hamza Jahanzeb
CEO, hamzajahanzeb.co.uk
xoxo