The Victoria Wood Theatre
WORLD PREMIERE
BRAND-NEW MUSICAL FOURTEEN AGAIN
Music & Lyrics - Victoria Wood
Book - Tom MacRae
Victoria Wood’s long-standing friendships, love of the Lake District and close connection to The Old Laundry Theatre in Bowness-on-Windermere comes full circle, as the intimate theatre is to be renamed THE VICTORIA WOOD THEATRE in honour of the much loved and talented star, who will continue to shine brightly, when the theatre is officially renamed in January 2026. Victoria Wood’s dear friends, the husband-and-wife team, Charlotte Scott and Roger Glossop MBE, who run The Old Laundry Theatre could not have wished for a more joyous name change for their theatre. Victoria had opened the venue, was a Trustee of the theatre, performed there many times, produced and directed her own show Talent (2008) there, and in 2013 her television film Housewife 49 was adapted for the stage especially for The Old Laundry Theatre.
In 2026, it will be ten years since Victoria died, and to keep her name alive at the newly named, THE VICTORIA WOOD THEATRE, what could be more perfect than to bring her genius music and lyrics back to life, with a brand-new musical at the theatre, FOURTEEN AGAIN, using songs from her Victoria Wood Song Book Lucky Bag! With a book by Tom MacRae writer and lyricist of the global hit Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, all is set for a magical new musical, FOURTEEN AGAIN. Booking opens Sunday 9 November 2025. Previews from Friday 1 May 2026 (Press Night Thursday 7 May 2026); with a Gala Night on what would have been Victoria’s birthday, Tuesday 19 May 2026.
Victoria, Charlotte and Roger’s paths first crossed professionally in 1978, and they quickly became firm friends, living close to each other in Morecambe and Bowness-on-Windemere. They collaborated throughout their careers, starting with Roger designing Good Fun at the Crucible Theatre Sheffield. Roger and Charlotte bought a former Edwardian laundry in Bowness-on-Windemere, where the hoteliers of Bowness had once sent their sheets for washing, and there they opened The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction in 1991, and, of course, Victoria officially opened it on 28 July 1991 and the following year, the Old Laundry Theatre was opened by Alan Ayckbourn. Charlotte says “With young families in tow (hers & ours) we followed Vic’s career as she toured up and down the country always returning to re-charge in the Lake District. By the time we opened the venue in 1991, followed by the theatre in 1992, Vic, together with Alan Rickman, Griff Rhys Jones, Andre Ptaszynski, Peter James, and Alan Ayckbourn all became Trustees and the journey began. Vic was always supportive - performing at The Old Laundry in her stand up, doing benefits in larger venues, and productions of her own shows Talent and Housewife 49 at the theatre. So now 10 years after her death it is a great delight to be putting on this show, and Vic’s name is on the theatre - we are set for the next 30+ years!”
The musical FOURTEEN AGAIN begins when Peggy is reunited with Lou at the local Slimming Club, her best friend from school, who she hasn’t seen since they were teenagers. As kids, no two friends were ever funnier or more fun, but here, now, today they are shadows of their younger selves - and a story unfolds of looking back to the future, full of comedy, love and pain, with Victoria’s amazing songs moving the musical fast forward. Casting to be announced.
Producer Charlotte Scott has brought together a top creative team for FOURTEEN AGAIN, with all roads somehow leading back to Victoria and/or The Old Laundry Theatre; to bring Victoria’s glorious talent through Tom MacRaes’ storytelling, to a whole new generation of fans.
Double BAFTA-nominated screenwriter, producer, Olivier-nominated playwright, author and songwriter Tom MacRae says, “I was honoured to write Victoria’s final TV show, we got to swap stories about working at The Crucible - a theatre where she had cut her teeth and where my first ever stage show, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, was about to open. Working with Vic again on a brand-new stage show feels like we’ve come full circle – and yes, creating Fourteen Again has felt very much like working with Vic, even though we sadly can’t collaborate in person anymore. Her joy and genius loom large over everything we’ve built. I wanted to create a show that is genuinely dramatic and surprising, with high stakes and real tension, as well as celebrating Vic’s innate sense of comedy and the warmth of her world, populated with loveable, relatable characters and celebrating friendship.
“My starting point was The Ballad Of Barry And Freda - what if my central character shared Vic’s love of telling hilarious stories about ordinary people. Also, Vic wrote several songs about being a child again, which got me thinking about adding a time travel element with a Scrooge-like opportunity to live your life again, but this time do it better. The one song that was tricky to place was Litter Bin about a teenage mum abandoning a child in a bin in a multistorey carpark. It was just so sad. How could I introduce that idea into a comedy? And then I had a brainwave – and that brainwave unlocked an idea that the entire show is now built around. Left to my own devices, I don’t know if I ever would have integrated such a tragic element into such an upbeat story. So, thanks Vic, my amazing and inspirational collaborator – I owe you one.”
Nigel Lilley, Victoria‘s Musical Director and close friend, will MD & Musical Supervise FOURTEEN AGAIN says “After having such a hit with Talent in 1978 it seems crazy that it took Vic over 25 years to venture back into the world of musicals with Acorn Antiques. By the time we worked on That Day We Sang in 2014 it felt like she was absolutely in her happy place, and I have no doubt that had she lived longer she would have had so many more glorious musicals to offer us. Vic's ability to flip between side-splitting comedy and devastating pathos in an instant remains unmatched for me. Going back to her songs in preparation for Fourteen Again I was struck again by the exquisite and meticulous skill in her writing - and yet the music and lyrics still feel so effortless on the ear. Vic was always on the search for new and original projects. I think she'd be cheering us on loudly with Tom's brilliant new script which honours her songs so beautifully.”
Award-winning Director Jonathan O’Boyle says “I am over the moon to be working on a new musical from Victoria Wood and Tom MacRae. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and it’s a privilege to be able to work with Victoria’s fantastic songs and Tom’s extraordinary book. I grew up in Derby, watching Victoria Wood’s Dinner Ladies on TV. Her humour and joy spoke to me and inspired me to work in theatre. Tom has managed to somehow seamlessly write a new work whilst honouring Victoria and it feels so very human and relatable”.
THE VICTORIA WOOD THEATRE and FOURTEEN AGAIN – the start of a legacy so truly deserved for the legend that is Victoria Wood.
FOURTEEN AGAIN
at
THE VICTORIA WOOD THEATRE
Friday 1 May 2026 – Saturday 23 May 2026 (extra dtes now added until 30th May 2026!)
Performances: 7.30pm - Tuesday - Saturday
Matinees: 2.30pm – Wednesdays & Saturdays + Thursdays (from 14/05)
Box Office: 015394 40872
Website: www.oldlaundrytheatre.co.uk
Address: Crag Brow, Bowness-on-Windermere LA23 3BX
Tickets: £25 / £35 / £40
Other events:
March
Death By Shakespeare – Fri 6 March | 7:30pm
Shakespeare found dozens of different ways to kill off his characters, but how realistic are these deaths, and did Shakespeare have the knowledge to back them up?
This talk turns a scientific eye towards the Bard and the varied and creative ways his characters die. Was death by snakebite as serene as Shakespeare makes out? Can you really murder someone by pouring poison in their ear? Find out all this and more in a rollercoaster of Elizabethan carnage, poison, swordplay and bloodshed.
A talk presented by Windermere Science Festival for the start of British Science Week 2026
Tickets: Adult £15.00 | Friend £14.00 | Student (under 25) £12.00
https://victoriawoodtheatre.com/whats-on/death-by-shakespeare
Biff to the Future – Sat 7March | 7:30pm
Fresh from an acclaimed, award-winning Edinburgh Festival Fringe premiere, Biff to the Future is now touring the UK!
The iconic villain of “Back to the Future” takes centre stage in this comedic reimagination of Marty’s time-traveling escapades, turning the celebrated cinematic trilogy on its head from the perspective of Biff, the bully audiences love to hate.
Tickets: £23
https://victoriawoodtheatre.com/whats-on/biff-to-the-future
Screen Classics: True Grit – Thurs 12 March| 7:30pm
The Coen Brothers’ reimagining of the classic Western tale. A determined young girl hires a grizzled U.S. Marshal to hunt down her father’s killer, leading to an unforgettable journey across rugged frontier country.
This film is part of our Screen Classics series of hand-picked films over a variety of genres to give you the best of each type. Each screening will be introduced, and you’re invited to join us before the film for a glass of wine, with cheese and biscuits.
Tickets: £10
https://victoriawoodtheatre.com/whats-on/screen-classics-true-grit
Pygmalion – Fri 13 March 7:30pm + Sat 14 March| 2:30pm/7:30pm
Eliza Doolittle has big dreams.
Henry Higgins has a big ego!
When a chance encounter sparks a daring bet, Eliza is catapulted from the rainy streets of Covent Garden to the top of Edwardian High Society. Can she pass for a Duchess or will the experiment expose more than just her accent?
HangFire Theatre return with a sparkling new adaptation of Bernard Shaw’s hilarious and heartfelt satire on identity and class which inspired My Fair Lady.
Will you miss your chance to experience this classic rags to riches story?
“Not bloody likely!”
Tickets: Adult £20 | Friend £18 | Student (under 25) £15
https://victoriawoodtheatre.com/whats-on/pygmalion
General Medical Emergency Ward 10 – Sun 22nd | 7:30pm
Every hospital, medical-based, Doctors-and-Nurses cliche-ridden drama onstage in a comedy mash-up spoof!Yes – ‘Holby City’, ‘Casualty’, ‘E.R’ and ‘Doctors’ - not to mention movies galore, are re-imagined and invigorated by Rebecca Vaughan, Andrew Margerison and Gavin Robertson in a pacy, cliché-ridden comic homage to the intrigues and dramas of every hospital plotline on the big and small screen!
Tickets: Adult £17.50 | Friend £16.50
https://victoriawoodtheatre.com/whats-on/general-medical-emergency-ward-10
‘The Second Best Bed’ - Thurs 26 March| 7:30pm
When Shakespeare died, he left his wife Anne only one thing – the second best bed. This superb one-woman play, full of both humour and pathos, has received great critical acclaim since its premier in 2012. Liz Grand stars as Anne Hathaway on the night of Shakespeare’s funeral. The wake has finished, leaving Anne to remember her life with the most talented playwright the world has ever seen. Or was he? Did he write the plays? His widow would know if anybody did. Wouldn’t she?
Tickets: Adult £16 | Friend £15
https://victoriawoodtheatre.com/whats-on/the-second-best-bed
April
Teechers – Thurs 2/Fri 3 April | 7:30pm + Sat 4 April | 2:30pm/7:30pm
It is the end of term and Godber’s hilarious comedy masterpiece has been reset for our post Covid times. Bristling with teenage swagger and outlandish imagination, Salty, Gail and Hobby use their B.Tech Performance exam to showcase their work.
What follows is a funny, fast moving, hard hitting account of life at Whitewall Academy as they play staff, students and site premises managers, including the new drama teacher Ms Nixon who has helped get them into drama and changed their lives.
But as Salty, Gail and Hobby conclude their performance and leave state education, it appears that Miss Nixon is moving on too . . .to the local private school.
Tickets: Adult £18 | Friend £16 | Student (under 25) £12
https://victoriawoodtheatre.com/whats-on/teechers
Screen Classics: LA Confidential – Thurs Thurs 9 April, 7:30pm
A gripping neo-noir crime drama set in 1950s Los Angeles. Three very different cops uncover corruption, scandal, and murder in the city’s glamorous yet seedy underbelly.
This film is part of our Screen Classics series of hand-picked films over a variety of genres to give you the best of each type. Each screening will be introduced, and you’re invited to join us before the film for a glass of wine and cheese and biscuits.
Tickets: £10
https://victoriawoodtheatre.com/whats-on/screen-classics-la-confidential