For fans of Hadestown, Benjamin Button and Once — discover Ballad Lines, the soaring new folk musical London’s talking about.
Ballad Lines is a heart-opening musical about the stories we inherit — and the choices each generation makes to break, reshape, or carry them forward.
A forgotten melody pulls Sarah, a queer woman in New York, into the lives of the women who came before her: Cait, her 17th-century Scottish ancestor, and Jean, a spirited Irish teenager a century later. Across three centuries, they face the same defining question: what does it mean to become a mother — and at what cost?
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Blending Scottish, Irish and Appalachian ballads with a bold contemporary score, Ballad Lines weaves one family’s hopes, sacrifices and songs across generations.
From award-winning songwriter Finn Anderson (Islander, Streets) and acclaimed director Tania Azevedo (Mayflies, But I’m a Cheerleader), this is a musical for anyone who has ever wondered where they come from — and what they choose to pass on.
Co-produced with Wolk Transfer Company and TRW Production. An earlier version of Ballad Lines (previously ‘A Mother’s Song’) was first produced at Macrobert Arts Centre in 2023 by KT Producing and Macrobert Arts Centre.
The Creators
Finn Anderson is an award-winning Scottish writer and singer-songwriter. He is on attachment at the National Theatre, is Associate Artist at Lowry, and was the Cameron Mackintosh Resident Composer 2020-21. Musicals include Islander (Off-Broadway/Off-West End/US Tour, with translations and productions across the world), Streets (Off West End nominated for Best New Musical). As a singer-songwriter, he has released two albums and toured internationally, including with Bogha Frois: Queer Voices in Folk.
Tania Azevedo is a Portuguese director and dramaturg working across new musicals, queer storytelling, and bold reimaginings. She is Creative Development Associate for Stage Entertainment International and trained at Mountview, the National Theatre Directors’ Course, and the Royal Opera House’s JPA Opera Directors Programme. Her work includes But I’m a Cheerleader (WhatsOnStage Best Off-West End Production), West End musical &Juliet (Resident/International Associate Director), and projects with ArtsEd, York Theatre Royal, and the King’s Head Theatre.
Book by Finn Anderson & Tania Azevedo
Music & Lyrics by Finn Anderson
Timeline
2017
Finn and Tania are commissioned to write a new musical for a Scottish-American cast of students from Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) and American Music Theatre Project (AMTP). They began dreaming up the concept of A Mother’s Song.
2018
A week in Chicago, workshopping the first draft of the the script and score.
A week of devising and early stage development with students at RCS.
Students from RCS and AMTP come together to stage the first production at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
2020
Finn & Tania undertake a 5 week residency in Chicago at AMTP, to rewrite the show and workshop new material.
2021
Public reading at The Lowry in Salford, with a cast of 6, as part of Rewrites festival
2022
A Mother’s Song In Concert at Macrobert Arts Centre
Recording A Mother's Song Concert Cast EP
2023
The world premiere of A Mothers Song: A New Folk Musical took in place February 2023, produced by Macrobert Arts Centre and KT Producing.
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2025
A Mother's Song is renamed Ballad Lines.
New Studio Cast Album recorded and released.
2026
January 23rd 2026, Ballad Lines opens at Southwark Playhouse