World premiere of musical A Knight's Tale opens in Manchester this weekend, here's what to expect

"You're going to see things you've never seen before on stage"

Anyone who has seen the cult 2001 hit movie A Knight's Tale may wonder how on earth an epic tale of medieval jousting tournaments could work on the stage.

Now, Manchester is about to find out first - with the world premiere of the new musical based on the film taking place at the Opera House.

We're told to expect an "unforgettable feast for the eyes" and when you consider the plot involves huge crowds watching jousting tournaments you can well believe it.

Audiences can expect a rocking soundtrack of well-known hits - and yep, Queen's We Will Rock You that famously kickstarts the movie will be in there.

The show will follow the medieval adventures of the peasant squire Will Thatcher, played by Heath Ledger in the film, and his band of merry misfits as he poses as a knight to compete in jousting tournaments.

It is being adapted for the stage by Irish comedy writer and actor Brona C Titley, directed by the award-winning Rachel Kavanaugh and choreographed by Olivier Award-winning Matt Cole.

So just how is it all going to be transformed (and contained) within the Opera House stage?

We caught up with actor Andrew Coshan, who is taking on the lead role of William Thatcher, to fill us in ahead of the first night on Friday, April 11. The show then plays right through to May 10.

Andrew admits he had plenty of questions himself when he landed the role. He laughs: "When I was cast, my first question was how are you doing the horses? How are you doing the jousting?

"When you're on stage you can't comprehend the scale, but when I've watched video clips back the scale is enormous. It has its challenges with jousting and horses, but it is doing its absolute darnedest to achieve it."

He adds tantalisingly: "You're going to see things you've never seen before on stage."

With award-winning costume designer Gabriella Slade on board, we can expect some impressive costumes to transport us back in time. Although Andrew lets us into a secret about the famous knights' metal armour.

He laughs: "There are ways to avoid carrying kgs of metal! But our costumes look incredible. I've kind of got a base costume, but depending on what I have to do I have different types of armour, and in some of the promo you may have seen we're on stilts, it's the stilt changes that are the most difficult. There are a lot of challenges about a show riding on horses and one of those involves stilts!"

For Andrew, 31, winning the role of Will has been a dream come true, as he's admired the film since childhood. Originallly from Auckland, New Zealand, he only moved to the UK last summer, but impressed the casting directors when the musical first began to take shape.

He's nestling into Manchester life now for the next month, with plenty of buzz building around the show, which it is hoped will head to the West End if things go well here in the city.

As for the music we can expect in the show, a lot of it is being kept a secret for now, but Andrew says that if you love the soundtrack to the movie it will give plenty of clues.

He says: "The success of the film, it was one of the first films to put modern music to a medieval era, so the soundtrack of the film is so iconic, the only choice was to make a jukebox musical with those songs and ones like it. All the most iconic songs from the film we have.

"There's also Holding out for a Hero by Bonnie Tyler, and even Reach by S Club 7 - it sounds like a strange choice but it works perfectly for the moment."

He says we can also expect the humour from the film "really dialled up for the theatre". He says: "It's a very funny script, it's quick, at times it's brash but appropriately so.

"It's impossible to have a bad time coming to this show, you know all the songs, the story of a knight's tale is so infectious, the rags to riches of a peasant becoming a knight, people love the underdog story. It's impossible to have a bad time when you know songs as well as you know these ones."

Andrew stars in the show alongside Emily Benjamin as Kate, Max Bennett as Chaucer, Emile Ruddock as Roland, Eva Scott as What, Oliver Tompsett as Count Adhemar and Meesha Turner as Jocelyn.

The movie's writer Brian Helgeland says of the musical: "Over twenty years ago I had the time of my life surrounded by a supreme cast and crew making a film we all fell in love with while we were joyfully making it. Sitting at a recent read through of the stage version, fashioned by Rachel Kavanaugh and Brona C Titley, I could feel that same joy and love emerging. I am grateful for the new life they are creating and very eager to see it in all its fully staged glory."

Brona C Titley added: "Adapting it for the stage has been more fun than I ever thought possible to have at work. This show is a sexy, silly, jousty, dancey, romance-y, musical extravaganza! It’s been one of the most fulfilling jobs of my career so far, and that was even before I met the incredible director, and team of legends that are working together to make it an unforgettable night out. I hope audiences love it as much as I do - do not miss this joyous, dizzy ride people!"

How to get tickets

A Knight's Tale the Musical will play at Manchester Opera House from 11 April – 10 May 2025

Performances will be on Tuesdays – Saturdays at 7:30pm, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2.30pm

There will be no performances on 20, 21 April or 5 May. Tickets priced from £15 are on sale at ATG's website here.