NORTHERN Stage bring their critically acclaimed dark and stylish new adaptation of the classic British crime drama Get Carter to the Nuffield stage next week.

Set in 1960s Newcastle, Torben Betts’ adaptation of the novel Jack’s Return Home by Ted Lewis, made famous by the 1971 iconic film starring Michael Caine, is a hard and uncompromising look at a city’s underworld gang culture and a gripping noir thriller, directed by Northern Stage Artistic Director Lorne Campbell.

She said, “Ted Lewis is one of Britain's great crime and thriller writers and this is his masterpiece. It's a tragic noir study of a corrupted man struggling to find a way out of a corrupted world. We’ve brought together a fabulous team of North East actors and hope to do justice to the telling of this epic tale.”

The creative team includes set design by Leo Warner/59 Productions, the team responsible for video design at Danny Boyle’s London 2012 Opening Ceremony as well as more than 100 shows across the world at venues including The Royal Opera House, The National Theatre, The Royal Court, The Young Vic, English National Opera and The Metropolitan Opera in New York.

2015 Mercury Prize-nominated singer-songwriter Nadine Shah has recorded original music as well as new arrangements of songs by iconic 1960s Newcastle band, The Animals, working with sound designer James Frewer. The production will also feature live music from drummer Martin Douglas (Baghdaddies and The Unthanks).

Writer Torben Betts said: “My adaptation is very much a reaction to the novel the film was based on. The story is in itself quite simple. A gangster goes back to his home town to bury his older brother and he suspects foul play. He trawls around the town’s underworld until he discovers his suspicions are well-founded. What was more interesting was to look at how we could re-imagine this very well-known narrative. To look at Jack’s environment growing up as he did in a brutalised post-war world. I wanted to look at the kind of man Jack Carter is, why he became the way he did.”

Kevin Wathen will play Jack Carter. Kevin’s theatre credits include Tony Elliot in Billy Elliot (Victoria Palace, London); The Godfather in Quadrophenia (National Tour); Mad Hatter in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Bristol Old Vic). Television credits include George Gently (BBC); And Kill Them (Channel 4); Blue Murder (ITV); Silent Witness (BBC); and Judge John Deed (BBC).

Tickets are available online at nuffieldtheatre.co.uk or by calling 023 8067 1771.