Peaky Blinders head for the Liverpool Empire in 2024

Those Peaky Blinders are returning to Liverpool – this time in an acclaimed dance-theatre production which is set to come to the Empire next year.

Rambert presents Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby at the Lime Street theatre from September 17-21, 2014.

Tickets go on general sale from 10am tomorrow.

Writer Steven Knight has brought his screen characters - led by Tommy Shelby - to the stage in what is billed as a ‘thrilling adaptation’ which is choreographed and directed by Rambert’s artistic director Benoit Swan Pouffer.

The show also features a live band on stage, led by musical director Yaron Engler, playing a specially commissioned score by Roman GianArthur that includes Peaky Blinders' tracks from Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Radiohead, Anna Calvi, The Last Shadow Puppets, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

With exclusive plot and characters never seen on screen, Knight opens the story in the trenches of the Somme in 1916 to tell a personal story of post-war industrial Birmingham, where the Shelby family navigate the decisions that determine their fate and Tommy is intoxicated by mysterious newcomer, Grace. While Tommy builds his empire, Grace operates as an undercover agent for Special Branch on a mission to get close to the heart of Tommy’s gang.

Above and top: Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby. Photos by Johan Persson.

As the story unfolds, hearts are broken and revenge is sought, in a script that is spoken by Birmingham-born writer and poet Benjamin Zephaniah who played street preacher Jeremiah Jesus in the TV series.

This is a second nationwide tour for the production, although it is the first time it will have been seen in Liverpool.

Steven Knight says: “I’m absolutely thrilled the Peaky/Rambert collaboration has been such a resounding success. So many people came to see the show and so many of them were new to live dance, which is why we all wanted to do this. “By popular demand the show is back on the road in the UK in places the first tour didn’t reach. Next, it’s Europe, then the world.”

While the award-laden British crime period drama is set in Birmingham, much of it – particularly its early seasons, was filmed in Liverpool including locations in Toxteth, Falkner Square, Rodney Street, the Stanley Dock and St George’s Hall as well as at Port Sunlight and on Formby Beach.

Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby is at the Liverpool Empire from September 17-21, 2024. Tickets HERE