Production photographs of Sylvia are released as Beverley Knight opens the UK tour

Production photographs have been released for Sylvia, which has opened its UK tour at Curve in Leicester, where it runs until Saturday 3 October 2026. The pictures were taken by Tristram Kenton, and they follow the rehearsal images released earlier this month.

Beverley Knight MBE reprises the role of Emmeline Pankhurst, for which she won an Olivier Award, and Naomi Katiyo plays Sylvia Pankhurst. Katiyo's credits include Hamilton and Just For One Day: The Live Aid Musical; Knight's stage work includes Sister Act, The Drifters Girl and Memphis The Musical.

The returning company includes Kelly Agbowu as Mrs Flora 'The General' Drummond and Betty Savoy, Kirstie Skivington as Adela Pankhurst, Ellena Vincent as Christabel Pankhurst, with Claudia-Rose Carlier and Jaye Marshall as swings.

They are joined by Lauren Azania (alternate Sylvia), Zion Battles (swing), Ebony Clarke (Emily Davison/Daisy Parsons), Eloise Davies (Annie Kenney/Norah Smyth), Solomon Davy (Prime Minister Asquith/Richard Pankhurst), Collette Guitart (Clementine Churchill/Julia Scurr), Leah Hill (Edith Garrud/Mollie Bird), Nathan Louis-Fernand (swing), Tachia Newall (Keir Hardie/Lord Cromer), Uzuazo O'David (Harry Pankhurst), Castell Parker (Winston Churchill/George Lansbury), Cleve September (Lloyd George/Lord Curzon), Kenedy Small (Jennie Churchill/Edna Payne/Sophia Singh) and Ivano Turco (Silvio Corio/Sir Almroth Wright).

The tour then travels on:

6-10 October: Birmingham Hippodrome
13-17 October: Edinburgh Festival Theatre
19-24 October: Lowry, Salford
27-31 October: Norwich Theatre
2-7 November: Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
13-15 November: Royal Albert Hall, London

The five performances at the Royal Albert Hall carry a particular weight. Between 1908 and 1913 the Hall hosted nearly thirty events connected with the campaign for the vote, taken by militant and pacifist suffrage societies alike and by the National League for Opposing Women's Suffrage; the first, in April 1908, sold out well in advance, with hundreds turned away at the doors. The Suffragettes knew the building as their "Temple of Liberty". In April 1913 its trustees barred Emmeline Pankhurst, her daughters and the Women's Social and Political Union from hiring it, making them the first political group ever excluded from the Hall, and the ban was lifted only after the partial victory of 1918. On 16 March that year the Hall staged a Celebration of the Women's Suffrage Victory, addressed by Mrs Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel.

On Friday 13 November the production hosts what its producers describe as the UK's largest ever education matinee. Delivered in partnership with Go Live Theatre and made possible by the support of The Garek Trust, the performance will welcome almost 5,000 children and young people, with tickets priced at £10.

Sylvia had its world premiere at The Old Vic in 2023, where it sold out. It is a production by The Old Vic and ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company in association with Sadler's Wells, presented by Eleanor Lloyd Productions, Eilene Davidson Productions and PW Productions. The tour is supported by a grant from Arts Council England's Incentivising Touring scheme.

The book is by Kate Prince with Priya Parmar, the music by Josh Cohen and DJ Walde, and the lyrics, direction and choreography by Kate Prince. The creative team also includes Ben Stones (set and costume), Natasha Chivers and Hector Murray (lighting), Tony Gayle (sound), Andrzej Goulding (video and animation), Cynthia De La Rosa (wigs, hair and make-up), Mark Dickman (orchestrations), Sean Green (music supervisor), Stuart Burt CDG (casting), Lolita Chakrabarti (dramaturgy) and Tachia Newall (additional lyrics).