Pride, the musical built around Mark Ashton's 1984 founding of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, had its London premiere at the National's Dorfman Theatre this summer.
The National Theatre staged the musical Pride in its Dorfman on the South Bank from Thursday 11 June to Saturday 12 September 2026, and the run sold out. It shared the world premiere with Sherman Theatre in Cardiff.
The musical follows Mark Ashton, who founded Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners with Mike Jackson in a flat on the Heygate Estate in Elephant and Castle. The two had collected donations for the strike at the 1984 Pride march.
Ashton moved to London from Northern Ireland in 1978 and became general secretary of the Young Communist League in 1985. He died of an AIDS-related illness at Guy’s Hospital in February 1987, aged 26. The Terrence Higgins Trust still runs a fund in his name.
Stephen Beresford first wrote Ashton’s story as a 2014 film, directed by Matthew Warchus. The two spent close to a decade turning it into a musical with the composers Christopher Nightingale, Josh Cohen and DJ Walde.
It was the first production announced for Indhu Rubasingham’s opening season as the National’s director.
The musical had opened in Cardiff on 31 March. It transfers to the Bridge Theatre from 12 November for a run to May 2027.