PART gig, part play, Reasons To Be Cheerful celebrates the wise, witty and wildly wriggly music of Ian Dury And The Blockheads in a bold, jubilant and gritty coming-of-age tale at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, from October 10 to 14.

Coinciding with the 40th anniversary reissue of Dury's seminal 1977 album New Boots And Panties!!, Graeae Theatre Company's raucous punk-rock musical is built around Blockheads' greatest songs.

Written by Paul Sirett, the show is set in 1979, when Labour has just lost the General Election to the Tories. Strikes rock the nation and the Blockheads’ Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part 3) is climbing the charts to number three. Die-hard fans Vinnie and Colin are on a mission to see Dury and co play Hammersmith Odeon, but with no tickets to this sold-out gig their journey throws more at them than they could have ever expected.

York Press:

A scene from Graeae's Reasons To Be Cheerful

The show parades such enduring Dury music-hall punk classics as Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick; Plaistow Patricia; Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll; Sweet Gene Vincent; What A Waste and Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part 3), complemented by one new song, If It Can’t Be Right Then It Must Be Wrong, written exclusively for the production by members of The Blockheads and Graeae performer John Kelly.

Reasons To Be Cheerful is directed by Jenny Sealey, artistic director of the pioneering disabled-led theatre company Graeae, whose inclusive cast of 14 actor-musicians will be using Graeae’s signature theatrical language. All performances seamlessly will include British Sign Language, audio description and creative captioning.

Tickets for the 7.30pm evening shows and 1.30pm Thursday and 2pm Saturday matinees in the Quarry Theatre are on sale on 0113 213 7700 or at wyp.org.uk