Flashbang at The Belgrade
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Flashbang written by James Lewis, directed by David Brady and brought to you by the team at Proforca Theatre Company. Performing at the Belgrade Theatre, B2 Venue, Coventry from Thursday 7 – Saturday 9 May.
Preview
The new play Flashbang comes to the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry as part of its 2026 UK tour bringing a bold, emotionally charged story of friendship, identity and growing up to the Midlands.
noun: flashbang a grenade that produces a bright flash and a loud noise so as to stun or disorient people without causing serious injury; a stun grenade.
Ryan and his gang were going to be mates forever. Living their lives in the same cycle as everyone else in a little town 20 miles from anywhere important. Living for the next night out. Living for the weekend. Getting into and out of trouble. Work. Pub. Sleep. Repeat.
Ryan and his gang have seen it all, done it all, lived it all. The nights they wished they could remember and the mornings after they’d rather forget.
Ryan and his gang were going to be mates forever – but then came the night when everything changed.
Developed by Proforca Theatre Company, Flashbang is inspired by the lives, voices and experiences of young people in towns like Coventry - places often overlooked in national storytelling, yet rich with humour, loyalty and complexity. The production is shaped by a Coventry-born and Midlands-grown creative team (Director David Brady and Movement Director Lucy Glassbrook), grounding the work in the rhythms, language and lived experience of the region.
Set in a town “twenty miles from anywhere important”, Flashbang follows five best mates navigating the nights, rituals and unspoken rules that define their friendship -and the moment everything begins to change. Told through movement, music and direct address, the piece shifts between humour and vulnerability, capturing the intensity of youth and the quiet weight of growing up.
The production has already received widespread critical acclaim, earning 11 four and five star reviews and Off West End Award nominations for Performance Ensemble and Sound Design, following its London transfer to Greenwich Theatre.
Flashbang Director David Brady had this to say about the production:
Q. What drew you to Flashbang?
David: Flashbang was created in the Summer of 2020 – (right in the middle of the pandemic!) with all of our projects cancelled and time to create new stories we wanted to create a new piece of work that felt much closer to home than anything we’d worked on before. The story behind Flashbang – about 5 best mates (and the town that they grew up in) felt very natural to create. As the show has grown we’ve seen less than positive portrayals of young men (think Adolescence etc) over the last few years on TV and even fewer examples in theatre – Flashbang is as a relative outlier of a positive portrayal of the experience of growing up somewhere that very definitely isn’t London that we hope audiences will relate to.
Q. How did Coventry and its culture influence the direction and feel of the show?
David: I was born and brought up in Coventry, and although I’ve lived in London for a while I’m back very often. I’m struck by how little people write stories about normal people living in unusual circumstances. Coventry has a real “little city energy” which means that outsiders are often dismissive of where we come from but if you’re from the City – you’re fiercely protective of it – and we wanted to capture something of that energy – the fierce loyalty that people have for their home town and their mates without ever wanting to be anywhere else. It’s not often that you see stories about cities like Coventry, and while some of the genre stuff like One Night in November or Three Minute Heroes are brilliant – nobody really writes about “normal” life in cities like Coventry so we wanted to capture some of that too.
Q. How did you collaborate with the other creatives to bring the characters and their friendship to life?
David: I’m blessed to be able to work with a brilliant creative team – the actors bring such humour and emotion to their characters and I know you’ll fall in love with them like I did. I’m also very lucky to work with the brilliant Lucy Glassbrook who is our Movement Director (also from the Midlands!) and Gregory Jordan who is our incredible technical director. We’ve worked hard together to bring the world of the show and each of them bring their own talents to the show. We’re also very lucky to have been supported by Ross Kernahan – who is our brilliant production photographer, and the team at Chewboy Productions who have helped bring the visuals of the world to life in all of our pre-show promo. We’ve all worked together a long time now – so the show has evolved with us over the last few years.
*Proforca Theatre Company’s previous productions, which include At Last, Lately and The Shatter Box, have built a reputation for bold, ensemble-led new writing that connects deeply with audiences both inside and outside London. This visit to Coventry forms a key part of a wider regional tour designed to bring high-quality new writing into major venues across the Midlands and North, strengthening connections between audiences, artists and regional theatres
For tickets: https://www.belgrade.co.uk/events/flashbang/
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