New musical The Gardening Club set for London run

A new musical written, directed and produced by two LIPA graduates is set to make its London debut. 

The Gardening Club was created by Bella Wright and Carleigh McRitchie, who graduated from Music (Songwriting & Performance) in 2024. 

Set in the 1960s in Georgia, USA, the musical follows a group of women who begin to illegally distribute the birth control pill under the guise of a seed-swapping gardening club.   

The show had its premiere at LIPA in March last year before a six-day run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. It opens in London at New Wimbledon Theatre 18-27 September. 

We caught up with Bella and Carleigh, who are from America, to talk about their Fringe experience and preparations for the London shows.  

How was the Fringe - what did you learn from the show having an extended run?  

Bella: The Fringe was one of the best weeks EVER! Not only was it incredibly good fun but it was also massively rewarding. It was Carleigh and my first time at the Fringe, and we performed in the cast alongside seven of our debut cast members. The Gardening Club was soon named in the ‘Top 20 Shows to See at the Fringe,’ out of a possible 4,000, by Playbill magazine.  After a week of sold-out success, Playbill even asked us to do an exclusive interview. Through the extended run, we spoke with audience members after most shows and received feedback on how different aspects impact different ages. Older folks love the story as it's reminiscent of the era they grew up in, whilst the younger crowd resonated with the crude humor and modern pop-rock soundtrack.  

How has the show changed since its premiere at LIPA a year ago?  

Carleigh: Since the March 2024 debut at LIPA, we learned that we wanted this show to focus more on the birth control aspect of the story, so we worked on revising the script to loop our character's individual arcs towards their Gardening Club. The more obvious changes include a couple of new songs, oh and we've cut four characters (RIP)!  

Carleigh and Bella. Image: Stefan Lakselvhaug

How are preparations going for the London shows?  

Bella: Good. It's a lot of work trying to balance our hospitality jobs, pay off our visas, and get our production closer to the West End. We have some really exciting opportunities before September's London run that will help us with fundraising (stay tuned!!), lots of Zoom meetings, and most of all - lots of gracious help from our friends. It takes a village, but we feel lucky that we all get to follow our dreams together. 

How did the creation of show benefit from happening at LIPA with an international cast and creatives?  

Carleigh: It's deeply important to Bella and I that this show is honest and relatable for all demographics. Having creatives from all over the world brings a global perspective to topics that we all deal with that hopefully brings a raw and candid performance to our script.

Production shot (top image) by Arron MacNamara

Find out more about The Gardening Club’s London shows

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