THE internationally acclaimed West End hit about the life and music of Woody Guthrie is heading for Worcestershire next month.

Woody Sez will be at Malvern’s Festival Theatre for one night only on Thursday, May 5, and will will trace the tumultuous, tragic, touching and joyful tale of “America’s greatest folk poet,” told in his own words.

The show features Bound for Glory, Pastures of Plenty, The Ballad of Tom Joad, This Land is Your Land, and two-dozen more of Woody Guthrie’s indelible protest songs, with this tale of one of the giants of American music brought to vivid life by the award-winning original London cast featuring David M Lutken, Ruth Clarke-Irons, Eleanor Brunsdon and William Wolfe Hogan, along with director Dean Elliott.

The show is a celebration of Guthrie’s life and music, providing a joyful, uplifting narrative about a difficult man’s difficult life during difficult times.

Woody Sez is a tale of struggle, activism, patriotism and commitment and Guthrie’s songs have become ambassadors of the best of the American spirit over past decades.   Introduced at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2007, Woody Sez has since played around the world - Glasgow, Belfast, Munich, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Washington and the West End and more recently visits to New Zealand and China. 

Writing about the production at Theater J, Peter Marks of The Washington Post said, “The musicianship is first-class; the cast effortlessly adapts to the rousing spirit of the songwriter’s heartland balladeering and protest music. It’s pleasant to be reminded that once upon a time in America, raising one’s voice in dissent could make for some beautiful music.” 

The performance, in the folk tradition, is unamplified and authentic, and the show and the musical arrangements incorporate more than 20 acoustic instruments.