Victoria Wood Musical Fourteen Again Heads to London's Menier Chocolate Factory
A new musical with songs by the late Victoria Wood will receive its London premiere at the Menier Chocolate Factory this winter, with previews from 21 November 2026 and a press night on 2 December. Fourteen Again, which has a book by Tom MacRae, runs at the Southwark venue until 27 February 2027. WhatsOnStage
The show had its world premiere in spring 2026 at the Victoria Wood Theatre in Bowness-on-Windermere, the Cumbrian venue named for the writer and comedian who died in 2016. This London run is the first time the production has been staged in the capital.
Ria Jones and Sally Ann Triplett will reprise the roles they played in Bowness. Jones plays Lou; Triplett plays Peggy. The story follows Peggy as she reconnects with her former best friend at a local slimming club, with friendship, nostalgia and renewal carried by Wood's songs.
Both performers bring long histories with Wood's work. Triplett originated the role of Miss Berta in the West End production of Acorn Antiques, the 2005 musical adapted from Wood's celebrated television sketch show. Jones performed in The Angina Monologues, another Wood-penned piece.
The creative team is led by director Jonathan O'Boyle, with Nigel Lilley as musical supervisor, arranger and co-orchestrator. Sammy Murray choreographs. Roger Glossop designs the set, with costumes by Caroline Hughes, lighting by Jason Taylor and sound by Sam Glossop. Archie McMorran serves as musical director and co-orchestrator, and Caroline Dalton is associate designer.
Full casting beyond Jones and Triplett will be announced shortly, according to WhatsOnStage.
The Menier Chocolate Factory — a 180-seat venue in a former factory building near London Bridge — has built a reputation for small-scale productions that transfer to the West End and beyond, with past Olivier, Tony and Evening Standard awards to its name. A show arriving there from a regional premiere is a familiar pattern at the venue.
For audiences, Fourteen Again offers a chance to hear new Victoria Wood songs on a London stage, a decade after her death. The slimming-club setting, the reunion of two old friends and the casting of two performers steeped in her work suggest a piece rooted in the everyday territory Wood made her own. Whether it follows the Menier's well-trodden path to a larger house is a question for later.
