BALLAD LINES

London Premiere Announced
23rd January - 31st March 2026
Southwark Playhouse

Three generations. Timeless ballads. One unforgettable story.

From award-winning singer-songwriter Finn Anderson (Islander, Streets) and director Tania Azevedo (&Juliet, But I’m a Cheerleader), Ballad Lines is a heart-opening new musical that shines a light on identity, belonging and the stories we choose to carry with us.

Sarah thought she’d left her childhood behind. A queer woman living in New York City, she’s long severed ties with the folk traditions of her upbringing. But when old ballads resurface, so do the voices of her ancestors — pulling her on a life-changing journey across time.

Spanning continents and generations, Ballad Lines follows three women bound together by blood, song, and choice. In 17th-century Scotland, Cait, a minister’s wife, wrestles with the constraints of her role. In 18th-century Ireland, Jean, a spirited teenager, faces an uncertain future. In 21st-century New York, Sarah is caught between the life she’s built and the pull of the past.

Blending original music with traditional Scottish, Irish, and Appalachian ballads, Ballad Lines is a story of love, legacy, and the ties that bind us all.

★★★★★
“an ambitious, expansive, evocative show about music and motherhood that brims with heart and history… Is it the next great Scottish musical? Possibly. Probably. This is certainly not the last we will see of it”. (The Stage)

★★★★★
“weaves its tale like a siren song, transporting the viewer across time and place, with a hypnotising score and an electric cast.” (The Skinny)

★★★★
“ambitious, exhilarating and moving… when the audience rise to their feet at the end, it seems as though they’re welcoming a major new show on the Scottish theatre scene” (The Scotsman)

★★★★
“Anderson has expertly woven traditional ballads with his own compositions and the whole thing is played live by a superb four-piece band… to have a new work of this calibre hailing from Scotland is something to be hugely proud of. May it last and travel like the traditional ballads that run through it.” (The List)

★★★★
“This show adds to the slowly-filling gap of women- and queer-centred stories in the musical theatre canon and is an exciting and timely piece” (Broadway World)

★★★★
“exquisite” (Musical Theatre Review)