BEAM 2020

Written By Nick Green

ENGLAND - BEAM is the UK’s leading showcase for new British musical theatre writing, happening biennially. This two-day event, presented by Mercury Musical Developments and Musical Theatre Network, in partnership with Royal & Derngate Northampton, brings together presentations of around 35 new musicals in development, masterclasses, networking opportunities, and panel discussions. It’s a big deal, so you can imagine how disappointed folks were when it had to be cancelled.

We’ve opened up submissions to those who were programmed for a showcase, and are building a list of them here. Keep checking back because we’re going to keep on updating!

Learn more about the festival here!

Featured
You and I: A New Musical
You and I: A New Musical

Music and Lyrics: Cordelia O’Driscoll, Book: Tom Williams

From the submission by Cordelia O’Driscoll:

You And I is a contemporary new comedy musical about what it really means to be human, following the story of Fran Kingsley and her new friend, Robert the Robot.

Go Forth and Slay
Go Forth and Slay

by Anne-Marie Piazza and Darren Clark

The show is an exploration of how we deal with trauma but told through the eyes of a 5th Century Welsh Dragon slayer. Monsters are real, they live amongst us & they aren’t going away so do we set out to slay them or learn to live with them. "Go Forth and Slay" is a one woman musical quest, facing them down & dragging them into the light.

The Naughty Carriage on the Orphan Train
The Naughty Carriage on the Orphan Train

by Luke Saydon

The Naughty Carriage on the Orphan Train is a two-act musical written and composed by Luke Saydon. It is a cautionary tale that warns about the dangers of not being naughty. This playfully macabre musical recounts the adventures of a troupe of mischievous children who escape a train transporting them away from their homes. It's inspired by true events, and tells the story of children who are equipped with questions, mischief and naughtiness, yet must find their way in a world where curiosity is suppressed.

Akhenaten
Akhenaten

By Tom Crosley-Thorne, Tom Brennan, and Jack Drewry

In 1350 BC, a young Egyptian Pharaoh made a radical change. Rather than continuing the legacy of his father, he banned the worship of multiple gods and began following a single god ‘The Aten’ (sun-disc), making 2,000 years of Egyptian religious tradition redundant. ‘Akhenaten’ uses the power of neo-soul and contemporary R&B music to explore leadership, faith, societal change and the birth of monotheistic religion. With a sizzling band of gods and a who's who of the ancient Egyptian elite, ‘Akhenaten’ will be a late-night funk jam, a historical epic and a spiritual communion with a god forgotten by history.


Nick Green
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