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The multi-award winning Stomp celebrated its 20th birthday this week with a public performance in London's Covent Garden. It also held a special anniversary performance at the Ambassadors Theatre, the show’s West End home since 2007, where several well-known faces from the world of comedy took part in a specially choreographed routine with co-creator Luke Cresswell.

An Endlessly Inventive Success Story

Stomp's modest beginnings make it one of theatre's most remarkable success stories. It all began in Brighton in the summer of 1991, with the birth of the show a natural progression from ten years of collaboration between Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas. Cresswell was a self-taught percussionist who had worked as a session drummer for many leading musicians. McNicholas had been an actor, singer, musician, and writer with various performing groups since the 1970s.

The two men began working together in the early 1980s, creating percussive set-pieces, including a memorable ’Bins’ commercial for Heineken Lager which was the inspiration for Stomp’s climactic dustbin dance. By 1989 they were staging large-scale outdoor events, including the Heineken Hove Lagoon Show which involved a 120-piece drum orchestra, the Brighton Festival Chorus and a full orchestral string section.

A Most Unique Theatre Experience

Stomp previewed at London's Bloomsbury Theatre and then became an overnight sensation after premiering at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1991. It became the Guardian Critics Choice and winning the Daily Express Best of the Fringe Award. It went on to enjoy international touring success, culminating in a sold-out season at London’s Sadler’s Wells in January 1994. A Broadway production opened that year, winning a Drama Desk Award for Most Unique Theatre Experience. 

Stomp premiered at the Vaudeville Theatre in September 2002 to fantastic reviews and strong box office sales. It moved to the Ambassadors Theatre in 2007, where new routines and updated music were added. Eight performers continue to use everything from Zippo lighters, plastic bags, bin lids and even the kitchen sink to hammer out an explosively feel good rhythm. The show is ideal for children, tourists or indeed anyone who is exhilerated by comedy and music.