Ballad Lines | Southwark Playhouse

With Operation Mincemeat and Benjamin Button having their early starts at Southwark Playhouse, there are high expectations for new musicals at this venue, and Ballad Lines is a new Folk Musical that has the capabilities to soar into these heights.

Created by Finn Anderson and Tania Azevedo, Ballad Lines is a striking new piece breathing with truth, honesty and emotion. At its heart, this piece explores overlapping themes of motherhood, family, lineage, and identity, while also offering a powerful and haunting reflection on our world, how we have lived in and are living in it. The angling through a lesbian relationship feels organic and truly needed within the world we are living in, giving the piece an extra level of resonance and urgency to an already rich narrative.

As Sarah navigates her disguised grief, lost memories and her heritage unravelling itself through past times and stories left in songs and tapes by her late Aunt Betty, she finds herself reconsidering her future and rekindling her link to her inherited folk ballads.

The score, created by Anderson is nothing short of stunning. Bringing the storytelling to life with confidence and emotional clarity, often doing the heavy lifting when scenes of dialogue occasionally fall short. Truthfully, the score is so striking that it’s hard not to be swept up by it entirely, meaning that when dialogue is introduced, it can occasionally feel slightly awry in comparison. However, the show still never falls apart, instead, it settles and dialogue becomes more natural as the piece progresses.

The piece hosts a real tour de force of vocal excellence. Kirsty Findlay and Yna Tresvalles deliver powerhouse performances, portraying some incredibly hard hitting stories through their characters as their vocals soar effortlessly. Frances McNamee is a steady and compelling anchor as Sarah, while Sydney Sainté shines as Alix, bringing humour, strength, and emotional depth in equal measure. Gracie Lai’s appearances as Morna are mesmerising and Ally Kennard proves a star with incredible dance ability and seamless multi-rolling. As an ensemble, the company is unified, strong, and commanding.

Tinovimbanashe Sibanda’s choreography is both charming and fierce, blending beautifully with Azevedo’s clever and subtle direction. The framing device of memory tapes is particularly lovely, elevated further by Rebecca Trehearn’s tender narration as Betty showcasing some of the best vocals in London right now.

And the show continues to excel from performance to production with Carly Brownbridge’s costumes elegantly distinguishing timelines and different lives, while Simon Wilkinson’s lighting is powerful and evocative. TK Hay’s set is fabulous, though at times its scale feels slightly too ambitious for the stage, however the space was still used in a satisfying manner that allowed the audience to overlook this.

Tender, true and poignant, Ballad Lines offers a beautiful outlook on humanity, love, and acceptance, firmly establishing itself as a folk musical worth watching as it breathes new life into the British Musical Theatre scene.

Ballad Lines plays at Southwark Playhouse until 21st March 2026. More information and tickets can be found here.

★★★★☆ (4*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review