Book and lyrics: Rob Madge
Music and lyrics: Pippa Cleary
Director: Nikolai Foster
Back at the start of the twenty tens, a local businessman in Burnley began lending money to other locals who needed the help when the big banks wouldn’t. With a vision to create a small community minded bank, Dave Fishwick attempted to open his own bank and the rest, as they say, is history. Some fifteen years after Burnley Savings and Loans started trading, after two Netflix films and after Dave Fishwick becoming known on television for fighting the big boys, the stylised retelling of his story has arrived on stage in Bank of Dave – The Musical.
A collaboration between Curve Leicester and The Lowry, Bank Of Dave premiered at the Salford theatre on the 2nd May and is loud, lively and very northern. Dave wants to open his own bank after becoming known for making loans to other locals and a paralegal is duly dispatched from London, ostensibly to make him fail. Instead Hugh, the paralegal, becomes committed to the cause and helps Dave battle the law, the FSA, and the banking community.
From the opening number Burnley Born and Bred through to the closing A Little Change, the show is full of songs, humour, passion and true northern grit. Rob Madge and Pippa Cleary’s lyrics are often wickedly clever and pull no punches. Language is used with care to recreate typical Lancashire phrasing and swearing even in the middle of a song.
Sam Lupton takes on the titular role with confidence and skill, even bearing a physical similarity to the man himself. He carries the show with charm charisma and a great singing voice. Hayley Tamaddon as his wife Nicky is an excellent foil to the brash Dave. However both Lucca Chadwick–Patel and Lauryn Redding as Hugh the paralegal and Alex a local doctor deserve equal credit. Both are excellent in their roles and both have stunning voices with Alex’s song Patience and Hugh’s What Heroes Do both showcasing their brilliance.
Nikolai Foster’s direction keeps the show flowing nicely with only a couple of transitions being a little less smooth. The neatest transition though is done by Mark Peachey in This Is The Life. Amy Jane Cook’s set is clever in both use of space and backdrops with a special mention for Video Designer Duncan McLean especially in the song What Heroes Do.
Overall Bank of Dave – The Musical is pure entertainment. It has life, happiness, pathos, and a dose of reality all dressed up and ready to party. Well worth a trip to see.
Runs until 16th May 2026
