Sleaford Mods singer Jason Williamson to perform radical texts about homelessness at Newcastle’s Live Theatre

Jason Williamson of the globally revered post-punk band Sleaford Mods is to make a special appearance at Newcastle’s Live Theatre for three nights only Thursday 25 to Saturday 27 September, lending his unmistakable voice to the first ever hearing of new works by the ‘brokenword’ North East playwright gobscure. Edgecity will be made up of six searing monologues, read by a cast of three including Williamson with live music by Geordie turntablist Mariam Rezaei. Each piece comes directly from gobscure’s own lived experience of living homeless across Britain.

Titles of the individual monologues to be performed include Mind The Reality Gap, Die Like Chekhov and yu cants start revolutions sitting on yr arse. Through stunning fragmentary language, gobscure paints a picture of Britain from those on the very edges of society. 

The writer, gobscure, who uses plural and non-binary pronouns, said of the collaboration: “We’ve written our whole life. Only thing making sense in the circumstances is having a voice. To have Live Theatre and Jack McNamara recognise these narratives now and with a musician and performers we genuinely respect and admire makes us so proud.”

Through their stratospheric rise of over the last 15 years, Sleaford Mods have emerged as one of the mostrelevant, creatively fierce bands in the contemporary music landscape. Known for their many anthems including Jobseeker, UK Grim, and Jolly F-cker, their totally unique approach to performance has turned them into an international force with fans ranging from Iggy Pop to Robert Downey Jr. A deeply charismatic and some might say theatrical frontman, Williamson has already built himself an acting profile in shows ranging from Peaky Blinders to the HBO series Landscapers with Olivia Colman.

The performance will be directed by Jack McNamara, Artistic Director of Live Theatre, who said: “We are truly stoked to welcome Jason to Live Theatre to give voice to these amazing pieces by one of the most genuinely radical North East writers I have come across. Jason and I worked together on an Alan Moore audiobook during lockdown (even making a limited edition vinyl for purgexxx records). I had a sense that gobscure’s work would resonate with him. These are artists who, in their different ways, have glimpsed hell and know how to talk about it. But their approach is full of unexpected insights, brutal honesty and gallows humour. This endorsement of gobscure’s work really is very meaningful. Two radical voices coming together in a very special way.” 

Edgecity runs from Thursday 25 to Saturday 27 September with performances at 7.30pm. To find out more and book tickets go to: wwwlive.org.uk