Writer of Steps musical says UEA shaped his craft

The writer behind a show dedicated to the music of Steps has said his time as a student in Norwich "massively" shaped his craft.

Here & Now, which is running at the city's Theatre Royal until Sunday, is billed as feel-good "party with a heart" musical crammed with the group's biggest hits.

Sean Kitchener said studying at the University of East Anglia (UEA) had set him on a career writing for stage and screen, and being back in the city for the show's tour was "bizarre".

"Every single corner of Norwich is full of memories; it's just a really odd but brilliant full-circle moment," said Kitchener, who graduated in 2011.

"I started UEA knowing English and drama were my passions, but I didn't yet know what to do with them.

"I left knowing I wanted to write. To now have a show like this, so much larger in scale than anything I've done before, playing in Norwich is overwhelming."

Having written short films and plays, and for Channel 4's Hollyoaks, he was approached in 2022 by Steps' management to pitch an idea for a jukebox musical.

The show follows Caz, who is about to turn 50, and how she guides her friends through a summer of love - to a soundtrack of One for Sorrow, Better The Devil You Know and Deeper Shade of Blue.

"There's lots of stuff about inter-generational friendship, love, heartache and work - lots of relatable things that people go through, happening in this very heightened colourful supermarket world," Kitchener explained to BBC Radio Norfolk's Kayleigh Poacher.

"I don't want to make 5,6,7,8 sound deeper than it is, but for a lot of Steps songs, if you look at the lyrics on the page, they are much more narrative and much more emotionally deep than you might expect.

"I think it lends itself so well to a story about love and friendship, and all that good stuff."

As a fan of Steps, musicals and theatre, he said he was "so nervous" at the reaction.

"This is the kind of show which, if I wasn't involved in it, I would want to see it and I would want it to be good," he added.

"It's gone down so much better than we could have dreamed of; the reviews are great and we were nominated for an award for best new musical, up there with Paddington, which is nuts.

"Just seeing the audience laughing along, crying along at some moments, and up on their feet all dancing to the megamix at the end, it's just lovely."

The band were happy, too, having had the idea of a jukebox musical before Kitchener was brought in.

"They watched every audition tape, and they've been across all the scenes, and they've been so supportive and just so lovely," he added.

"That's so great, as a childhood fan, to just sit in a room with them and think 'Oh my god, this is so weird'.

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