Salford born actor, writer, musician and UK national poetry slam champion Tom Gill brings his award-winning debut show to Manchester’s Royal Exchange following a sell-out run at Edinburgh Festival.
Commissioned by Battersea Arts Centre, Growing Pains opens in The Studio, Royal Exchange Theatre on Friday 10 for a two night run, after a sell-out stint at Edinburgh Festival in 2016.
Carrying the weight of the world in a J.D sports bag, Growing Pains tells the story of a young lad who trades his baghead mates and council estate for a one-way ticket out of Salford. Fusing razor sharp wit, spoken word, theatre and original songs, Gill’s production is a thrilling twist on the conventional coming of age story, set against the backdrop of Ladbrokes, broke lads and shit dads.
Award-winning director Matthew Landers commented about Growing Pains, “It’s a really exciting show…ultimately it’s a show about learning compassion for others, and I think we can all do with a bit of that right now”.
Growing Pains marks Tom Gill’s debut show and comes just three years after he first began writing and performing his own material. In 2015 Tom became a resident artist at the Roundhouse in Camden, featuring at an eclectic mix of venues across the UK including Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Bar, Latitude and Lovebox Festival. He also collaborated with BBC Radio 1Xtra on their year-long Words First project. Graduating from Guildford School of Acting, Tom has also worked extensively as an actor in Theatre, Film, TV and Radio. He’s toured America playing the young lead in RSC and National Theatre of Scotland’s production of Dunsinane and is currently working on BAFTA award winning director Mike Leigh’s latest feature film about the Peterloo Massacre.
Growing Pains is performed at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre on 10 and 11 March 2017. Tickets priced £12 (£12 concessions).
Royal Exchange Theatre image credit University of Salford Press Office/flickr under creative commons licence.
