Blaze FM brings together a great cast, live music and a strong story full of surprises
The Big House brings Blaze FM to Lowry after its Edinburgh Fringe debut in 2025. Founded by artistic director Maggie Norris, the company works with care leavers and young people at risk, creating theatre informed by their experiences. This production was written by grime MC Jammz and playwright James Meteyard, with music and lyrics by Jammz. It is an enjoyable piece of theatre with plenty to say, but the performances are the main reason to see it.
Set around a pirate radio station in a Hackney flat, Blaze FM follows the people who broadcast from it across several years. The story gradually reveals more about them and their relationships. It also has some great twists, which work all the better once you have spent time with the characters.
The music is excellent. Grime, garage, jungle and drill give the show its pace, and the cast perform the tracks with real skill. There were moments when it felt more like watching a live gig than a play. That energy carries into the acting too. The cast are good at making a conversation interesting after a big musical number, so there is never a sense of waiting for the next track to begin.
Anais Lone was the standout for me as Aisha. Her voice is brilliant, but she is equally good in the scenes between songs. She has an easy confidence on stage and can hold your attention without needing to be the loudest person in the room. In a cast where everyone gets a chance to shine, hers was the performance I enjoyed most.
Hughbert, played by Andrew Brown, was my favourite character. Brown gives him plenty of warmth, as well as a stubborn side that makes him feel believable. His scenes with the younger members of the group are particularly good. Their relationships do much of the work of drawing you into the story, and he never feels like a character who is there simply to explain it.
Aliaano El Ali as Alpha, Marcus Omoro as Jason and Leo Patrick as Pritstik complete a strong cast. Each brings a different presence to the station, and the group scenes are some of the best in the show. They feel comfortable enough with one another for the jokes and disagreements to land naturally. It made it easy to connect with all of them, even though the production has a lot to fit into its running time.
I also liked the look of the production. Tina Torbey’s set includes a background of windows from the surrounding block of flats, which gives the station a convincing place within the neighbourhood. The projections mark the passing years and bring in headlines from the wider world. They are a useful way of moving the story forward without having characters stop to explain how much time has passed.
Norris directs those shifts in time clearly. The production covers a lot, yet the two hours including an interval did not feel too long. The twists kept me interested, and the ending brings things full circle. There are difficult moments, but the show makes room for humour and for the enjoyment these characters get from making music together. It never becomes too dark for too long.
Blaze FM works because the music and acting are both so strong. The tracks are exciting in their own right, while the cast make the people behind them worth following. Lone and Brown were particular highlights for me, and the way the story unfolds makes it well worth seeing.
Blaze FM runs until 19 September 2026 at Lowry, Salford.