New play set in rough and tumble world of wrestling is heading for Leeds

Jamie Smelt (Jim Glory), writer Nick Ahad and Josh Hart (Dan). Picture: David Lindsay.

Now Yorkshire writer Nick Ahad is getting to grips with yet another subject – the spit ‘n’ sawdust world of British wrestling.

Nick’s new play, Glory, tells the story of faded star Jim ‘Glorious’ Glory and amateur wrestlers Dan, Ben and Sami as they confront both each other and their own personal demons.

Described as a “state of the nation” piece, it tackles issues such as race, identity and what it means to be British in 2019.

The production is also, to borrow a wrestling phrase, a proud tag-team affair, bringing together Leeds’s Red Ladder Theatre Company, The Dukes Theatre in Lancaster and London’s Tamasha theatre company.

And for its writer, work on the play has provided a nostalgia-filled trip down memory lane to the days when millions of grapple fans tuned into ITV’s World of Sport every weekend for their latest fix of grunt ‘n’ groan action.

Nick, who is The Yorkshire Post’s theatre correspondent and a presenter on BBC Radio Leeds, said: “I used to watch wrestling when I was a little boy.

“I still remember the excitement of seeing Giant Haystacks fight Big Daddy at Victoria Hall in Keighley in the 1980s.

“But I thought British wrestling was a relic of the past. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Wrestling is alive, well – and as entertaining as ever.

“With larger than life characters and a perfect combination of sport, performance, blood and sweat, it is pure theatre.

“It is also the perfect arena to explore the Britain we all share today.

“I can’t think of a better place for drama to play out than the inside of a wrestling ring.”

Directed by Rod Dixon and featuring actors Josh Hart, Jamie Smelt, Ali Azhar and Joshua Lyster, Glory will run at The Dukes Theatre from February 21 to March 2 before heading out on a nationwide tour.

The tour includes dates at Wakefield’s Grove Hall on March 8, Belle Isle Working Men’s Club in Leeds on March 12, Wakefield’s Cluntergate Centre on March 22 and the Albion Electric Warehouse in Leeds from April 1 to 6.

For further information, visit the www.redladder.co.uk website.