Sound of the Underground

Ladies, Gentlemen, and then all the legends that have realised gender is a trap – introducing the Sound of the Underground.

Out to the electric night, where the base line jumps in the backstreet light and the beat goes round and round. The sound of the underground is the sound of duct tape, lighting cigarettes, jangling tips and a whole lot of chaos. This is not your average night at the theatre.

Legends of the London Queer club scene come out from under the gutter to take over the Royal Court Theatre. Expect punk, profanity and a fierce fight about workers’ rights written by Travis Alabanza and co-created and directed by Debbie Hannan. Hold for applause. Bring some change. Tip generously.

Travis Alabanza’s first play for the Royal Court spotlights London’s iconic underground club culture and questions what it means to get your money’s worth when it comes to art.

This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at London's Royal Court Theatre in January 2023.

Travis Alabanza is a performer, writer and theatre-maker. In 2016/17 they became the youngest recipient of the artist-in-residence at the Tate workshop programme, starred in Scottee’s theatre production Putting Words in your Mouth at the Roundhouse and the Royal Exchange adaptation of Derek Jarman’s Jubilee, performed in venues such as V&A, Tate, ICA, the Roundhouse and Barbican – and had their work featured in The Guardian, BBC, Huck Magazine and more. Known for increasingly paving much of the UK conversation around trans politics, Alabanza has become a staple of the London queer scene and further afield. Their debut poetry book Before I step Outside (you love me) released in 2017 has been shipped to over 19 countries worldwide and listed as one of the top trans literary books of 2017. Alabanza’s unique mixture of performance, poetry, style, political views and risk-taking performances has taken them across the country, Europe and internationally – working regularly with artists such as Alok Vaid-Menon, Duckie, David Hoyle, Scottee and others.

Debbie Hannan develops and directs new work for stage and screen. They are currently Associate Director at National Theatre of Scotland. From January to July 2022, she was Acting Artistic Director of Stockroom, working as Showrunner of their Writers Room. They were Associate Director at the The Bunker Theatre, as well as Incoming Artistic Director of the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, and are represented by Independent Talent. They trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and as Trainee Director at the Royal Court.