John Godber's swashbuckling Yorkshire adventure to play out in Harrogate
John Godber’s fast, funny and fiercely Yorkshire theatrical adventure The Highwayman rides again this autumn, returning to the county that inspired it for performances in Harrogate, Scarborough, Huddersfield and Pocklington.
Following its acclaimed premiere and nominations for Best Lead Actor and Best Supporting Actor in the 2025 BroadwayWorld UK Awards, The Highwayman returns for a major UK tour – including four stops across Yorkshire.
It’s 1769, and everyone is flocking north. Yorkshire is booming: the ale houses are packed, money is being made, social climbing is rife and gin is flowing. But where there’s new wealth, there are also plenty of people willing to take it.
From the writer of Bouncers, Teechers and Do I Love You?, John Godber’s The Highwayman is part romantic adventure, part riotous history lesson and packed with the writer’s trademark humour, physicality and sharp social observation.
At the centre of the story is John Swift, an ambitious young rogue trying to make his fortune in a world where getting ahead sometimes means breaking the rules.
Returning to the production is Emilio Encinoso-Gil as John Swift, alongside Matheea Ellerby, both of whom have been supported by the Godber Theatre Foundation. They are joined by actor-musician Dylan Allcock in a whirlwind ensemble production filled with romance, danger, larger-than-life characters and live theatrical energy.
The Foundation connection makes this Yorkshire tour particularly special. Established in 2020, the Godber Theatre Foundation supports emerging theatre-makers from Hull and East Yorkshire alongside their degree-level training, providing financial assistance, professional mentoring, industry workshops, contacts and opportunities to gain real professional experience.
The Foundation was created to help tackle some of the barriers facing young people trying to build careers in theatre – particularly those from working-class backgrounds – and to create a bridge between training and employment.
Emilio is now a Foundation alumnus and has gone on to work professionally with the John Godber Company, including touring in Do I Love You?, while Matheea is a current Foundation recipient. Their casting in The Highwayman reflects the Foundation’s ambition not simply to support young theatre-makers through training, but to help them establish sustainable professional careers.
Set in a Yorkshire obsessed with money, status and getting ahead, The Highwayman may take place more than 250 years ago – but its world of ambition, inequality and social climbing feels strikingly contemporary.
The Highwayman will be performed at Harrogate Theatre, September 16-19.