Leeds Playhouse announce world premiere of new musical SAY YES TO TESS

Leeds Playhouse have announced the world premiere of Say Yes to Tess – A New Musical by Tess Seddon, which runs at the venue from 24 March-2 April before transferring to Camden People’s Theatre from 5-16 April.

Laugh-out-loud funny with catchy original songs, this hopeful new musical is inspired by theatre-maker Tess Seddon’s real-life experiences in the world of UK politics.

Colourfully re-imagining Tess’s time as a Yorkshire Party candidate, this entertaining and accessible musical is for those who don’t think politics is for them. Giving audiences a glimpse into the weird and wonderful behind-the-scenes world of politics, from canvassing to hustings, the production is brought to the stage by TheatreState, in association with Leeds Playhouse.

The musical follows the 30-year-old Labour voter from London to Leeds, where she has returned to try and win back her boyfriend. Temping at a call centre and trying to survive a frosty house-share, she’s feeling lost, until she meets the Yorkshire Party and is inspired to stand in the 2017 UK General Election as a candidate for Leeds North East.

Thrust into the spotlight, Tess takes the Yorkshire Party’s passion for people, park & rides and Yorkshire devolution to the streets, finding friends in unlikely places. But with the General Election growing closer, she starts to question whether she’s doing the right thing.

This is a story about hearing every voice. With music by Harry Blake and co-direction by Blake and Seddon, self-certified talentless singer Tess plays herself alongside Kofi Dennis, Jamie Noar and Andrew Whitehead – finding herself in a world where she doesn’t belong. Further casting is to be announced.

Writer and performer Tess Seddon said: “Dodgy politics and regional inequality have only increased since we first tried to stage Say Yes to Tess in March 2020. The pandemic has made it impossible to ignore how our political system serves those at the top. It's farcical. So now feels like the perfect time to tell my unique and funny story about how I joined a cagefighting referee and an erotic novelist to get Yorkshire its own parliament.

"Say Yes to Tess is a story not just about me, but about how the process of standing affected everyone around me. From my passive aggressive housemate who'd never voted in her life, to my estranged Labour-voting Dad. It begins with me feeling powerless as an individual trying to change something so big and messed up – and ends with me realising that the most hopeful thing we can do is take part. Harry and I wanted this to speak to audiences who find politics overwhelming, boring, or just not for them. We knew it had to be fun and passionate – and what's more fun than a motley crew of unlikely amateur politicians singing big show tunes about changing the world?”

For more information and to book tickets, please click here.