Groups can experience Matthew Bourne’s dance thriller 25 years on from its first performance when it begins touring UK theatres in June 2026, visiting 16 venues.
The UK tour of The Car Man will kick off on 15th June 2026 at Leicester’s Curve Theatre, where it will run until 20th June before visiting other venues including the Lowry, Salford, Milton Keynes Theatre and Theatre Royal, Plymouth.
Sadler’s Wells theatre will host a five-week summer run of The Car Man from 28th July to 29th August, before the production continues touring until 14th November 2026, closing at Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury.
Matthew Bourne said: “I never dreamed when we created this show at the beginning of the new millennium that it would still be around, thrilling audiences, 25 years later! Inspired by vintage movie film noir classics, it holds a unique and special place in the New Adventures repertory as the only piece based on an opera and possibly the first ballet to feature a bi-sexual anti-hero!
“I’m particularly happy that we are taking the show “on the road” again after more than 10 years and I can’t wait to re-visit the hot and steamy town of Harmony USA – the best place to be next summer!”
About the show
Loosely based on Georges Bizet’s opera, Carmen, The Car Man presents a 19th century Spanish cigarette factory which becomes a greasy 1950’s garage-diner in the American Mid-West where the dreams and passions of a small-town are shattered by the arrival of a handsome and enigmatic stranger.
Fuelled by heat and desire, the inhabitants are driven into an unstoppable spiral of greed, lust, betrayal and revenge.
The dance thriller is directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne with music music by Terry Davies & Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite. It features an iconic score and celebrated choreography.
Past performances
The Car Man was first performed in 2000, where it opened in Plymouth before playing London’s Old Vic Theatre for a 19-week run. A UK and international tour followed in 2001/02, visiting countries including Portugal, The Netherlands and the USA.
The production was revived in 2007 for a UK tour, followed by another run in 2015. It was last seen in a revival for The Royal Albert Hall’s 150th anniversary in 2022.
Group bookings
The five-week run at Sadler’s Wells Theatre will offer discounted tickets in the stalls for groups of ten or more. Group bookings for other venues are subject to availability.
For more information about Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man, click here.
