A new musical by Siân Owen, How Soon Is Now?, will tour the UK later this year, exploring female friendship and club culture in 1997 Manchester with a soundtrack of iconic 1990s indie music. The production promises a nostalgic celebration of courage and connection through a live concert experience.

How Soon Is Now? will have its world premiere at the Lowry in Salford from 1 to 3 October before touring extensively across the UK. The musical follows three women – Polly, Angie, and Jean – on New Year’s Eve 1997 in Manchester, with a story set amid the city’s vibrant club scene.

The production features a soundtrack including songs by The Stone Roses, Radiohead, and The Smiths, capturing the spirit of 1990s indie and club culture. Vidar Norheim serves as musical director, while Adam Quayle, artistic director of Box of Tricks, directs the show.

Writer Siân Owen described the show as a “love song to music, friendship, courage and remembering that together we can all find glimmers of hope.” She aims to create an immersive atmosphere, where audiences feel as if they are inside a nightclub experiencing laughter, heartbreak, and magic first-hand.

Adam Quayle highlighted the project’s decade-long development, calling How Soon Is Now? “our biggest, boldest production to date.” He stressed the musical’s themes of female empowerment and friendship, combined with its live soundtrack of classic indie music, as a reminder of light in dark times.

Following its debut in Salford, the tour stops will include Chester, Lancaster, Wakefield, Bradford, Exeter, Bristol, Stockton, Ipswich, Sheffield, and Scarborough, with further dates to be confirmed.

Casting and the full creative team will be announced later, as Box of Tricks prepares to bring this evocative new musical to audiences across the country during a challenging period for midscale touring theatre.