Following its five-star, sell-out run at the Edinburgh Festival, John Osborne’s debut storytelling hour is coming to Harrogate Studio Theatre on Friday 3 &Saturday 4 February as part of an extensive national tour.

In 2002, John Osborne won a competition on John Peel’s Radio One show. His prize was a box of records that took eight years to listen to. This is an ode to radio, those records and anyone who’sever sought solace in wireless.

The live show sold its entire Edinburgh Festival run out in August 2011 and features a selection of records previously owned by the late John Peel. Many are very rare recordings by obscure and now defunct bands, and this is a unique opportunity for any Peel fans. A 30-minute version of the show was recorded by the BBC and was broadcast on Radio Four in December.

John Peel’s Shed is inspired by John Osborne’s acclaimed debut novel Radio Head: Up And Down The Dial Of British Radio – Radio 4’s Book Of The Week – which tells the story of what happened when John decided to listen to a different radio station every day, all day, for a month. His true story journey took him from data entry at Anglia Windows, via interviewing radio greats such as Nicholas Parsons and Mark Radcliffe; to presenting his own local radio show. John Peel’s Shed is script edited by Joe Dunthorne (Submarine, Wild Abandon).

John Osborne is a writer based in Norwich. His debut book Radio Head (Simon & Schuster) was published in 2009 and re-published due to critical acclaim in 2010. His second, The Newsagent’s Window (Simon & Schuster 2010) won the East Anglian Book Award, and tells the story of the year John spent replying to adverts in his localnewsagent’s window. John has released two poetry collections and performed on BBC Radio 1, 3 and 6. He is also a member of poetry collective Aisle 16 (Time Out Award Winners).

John Peel’s Shed will be at Harrogate Studio Theatre on Friday 3 & Saturday 4 February at 7.45pm. Tickets cost £12 with concessions available and can be booked securely online at www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk or through the Harrogate Theatre Box Office on 01423 502 116.

REVIEWS FROM www.johnpeelsshed.com below:-

“Shy and awkward but with a keen eye for a killer line and the significance of the trivia of daily life, Osborne sits somewhere between Tom Wrigglesworth and Daniel Kitson, which a very good place to sit. I could have listened for hours” – ★★★★★ The Independent

“Beautifully-written, funny and poignant… Just as John Peel’s records changed his life this lovely, simple, beautifully executed show has enriched ours” –★★★★★ The Scotsman

“One of the Top Ten Theatre Highlights of the Edinburgh Festival… Funny, perceptive and charming” – ★★★★ The Telegraph

“One of the loveliest things you’ll see all year” – ★★★★ The Herald

“Genius… A comic highlight” – The Guardian

“I heartily recommend John Peel’s Shed. It is a gentle tale of one man’s passion for obscure music and the radio which has been compared to the work of Daniel Kitson” – Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard

“John Osborne captures the intimacy of the medium, the startling human connections and priceless stories. Its an uplifting if occasionally twee story that makes a classic, nostalgic fringe piece” – Total Theatre

ALSO CHECK OUT www.johnpeelsshed.com and www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk

By Andy on January 10, 2012