Commissioned by Curve Theatre, Leicester & National Theatre, England.
Book by Ryan Leder
Music & Lyrics by Jude Taylor & The Company
Co-created with Sir Johnathon North College
Directed by Kitty Benford
Produced by Speak Up (Curve Theatre, Leicester)
Acceptable Rebellion is a defiant, razor-sharp musical that takes the school play and rips it apart. When students at Sir Johnathon North Girls’ College use a mock courtroom to debate whether their school should still be named after a man, things spiral into something far more urgent than a simple name change.
“‘Cos the problem’s not the people in the box, the problem is the box…”
With pounding original music, biting satire, and unflinching honesty, this ensemble-led story asks: What does progress really look like when the system was never built for you? Who gets to be heard — and who decides what’s “acceptable”?
At once hilarious, heart breaking, and furious, Acceptable Rebellion is a rallying cry from a generation tired of waiting for permission. If you’ve ever been told to sit down, shut up, or smile more — this one’s for you.
Performances:
July 7th, 2025 – Sir Johnathon North College, Leicester, UK
July 9th, 2025 – Curve Theatre, Leicester, UK
Speak Up is a project which sees young people from schools in Leicester working in collaboration with local artists and teachers to lead creative projects. Overall, the project seeks to inspire a movement of young people to speak up about the issues that matter to them and ignite the creativity of the next generation, encouraging new ways to think, see, and bring about change individually, and in the world.
Speak Up is a secondary school programme that sees young people working in collaboration with local artists and teachers to co-create artistic responses to issues that are most important to them. The initiative takes place in areas of low arts engagement where there is an inequality of access to opportunities for young people and their voices are not always heard.