Ballad Lines
The Other Palace
5/5 based on 2 reviews (read reviews)- Opens: Sunday, 11 April 2027 -
Booking until: Sunday, 4 July 2027 - Running time: 2hr 35min. Including one interval.
Ballad Lines photos
Ballad Lines description
Ballad Lines is a folk musical about a young woman who discovers the songs and stories of the women in her family.
When New Yorker Sarah moves into a new apartment with her girlfriend, she receives a mysterious box from her late, estranged aunt. Inside are audio tapes holding the stories and songs of her ancestors. Drawn into the lives of these women, Sarah sets out on a journey that forces her to confront her past and reconsider her future.
The score combines original songs with reimagined traditional Scottish, Irish and Appalachian ballads, performed by an all-female band. The musical was commissioned in 2018 by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Northwestern University's American Music Theatre Project, and an earlier version premiered in 2023 at the Macrobert Arts Centre in Stirling under the title A Mother's Song. It had its London premiere at Southwark Playhouse Elephant in 2026, where The Guardian described it as "a powerful generational journey" with "heartbreaking, full-throated folk music for the ages". A 17-track concept album has had more than two million streams. The production now transfers to The Other Palace with an expanded cast, story and design.
Music and lyrics are by Scottish songwriter Finn Anderson, co-creator of the live-looping musical Islander, which has played in London and Off-Broadway, and writer of Streets. He wrote the book with Tania Azevedo, who also directs. Her production of But I'm a Cheerleader won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Off-West End Production, and she has worked as Resident and International Associate Director on & Juliet. Music direction is by Shonagh Murray and choreography by Tinovimbanashe Sibanda, with set and costume design by Diego Pitarch and lighting by Simon Wilkinson.
Carrie Hope Fletcher plays Sarah. A four-time WhatsOnStage Award winner, she has starred in the West End in Heathers, Cinderella and Les Misérables, and toured the UK in Waitress and The Addams Family. Further casting is to be announced.
Book now for Ballad Lines, a story of inherited songs and the family histories they carry.
Playing at The Other Palace
Age restrictions
Ages 14+.
Important information
This production contains blood and the use of e-cigarettes. There are references to death, miscarriage, stillbirth, abortion and maternal mortality, as well as homophobia and sexual violence. There are depictions of sex, vomiting and childbirth on stage.