Introducing a new musical: John Allen - The Salvationist Navvy

Stephanie Lamplough talks to Salvationist about a new musical chronicling the Army’s early days in Wales.

This time last year, a musical premiered at Together 2023: Belongings, a SATCoL-inspired celebration of connection through Christ. It has since gone on to tour the territory and will soon be performed in the USA too. This weekend sees the debut of another musical: John Allen – The Salvationist Navvy.

Written again by Stephanie Lamplough and Paul Sharman from Music and Creative Arts (MACA), the 15-minute production is inspired by John Allen, a navvy – a manual labourer – who became an Army pioneer in Wales. Affectionately nicknamed ‘the Salvation Navvy’, his story is now all but forgotten.

How did you come across John’s story?

The International Heritage Centre unearthed this book, John Allen: The Salvation Navvy by George Scott Railton. Being a navvy carried with it a reputation of being rough and ready. When Allen heard William Booth speak at a theatre, he felt a transformation and then was converted. From that moment, he needed to go out and tell people. He was sent to Cardiff by William Booth and would hold open-air meetings, with hundreds of people blocking the roads. He got fined, but kept going. Not only was his fine overturned, but the law was also changed to allow preaching outdoors.

How did you adapt his story?

The musical takes place at a Sunday school as the children learn about John Allen, and how his story continues today. It’s about celebrating the past but looking to the future. What’s happening now in Wales? What’s happening across the territory? How are we taking a stand for Christ?

What’s your writing process?

I do the lyrics, Paul does the music. We’ve got a shorthand where we bounce off each other. Normally, it’s the lyrics first. A lot of the time, my ideas come when I’m driving! I record voice memos and then revisit them later. For John Allen – The Salvationist Navvy, we had existing melodies from a musical we wrote that didn’t take off. It was a question of reshaping those and getting the words to match.

When did you decide on the length?

We knew it would be about 8 minutes – then it went to 12, then 15! Once I had worked out the structure, I managed to fit in a lot of information using telegrams as a device.

Who’s in the cast?

Rob Moye plays John, alongside Grace Moir as the Sunday school teacher, plus children of cadets and MACA Dance members. We’ve had three rehearsals – when working with people from across the territory, it’s tough finding a convenient time for everyone!

What’s been the biggest challenge?

Making sure it’s authentic. Even with Belongings, which was fiction, we wanted it to feel real – I did work experience in a charity shop, for example. As this is history, the props and everything have all got to ring true. It takes months of work and research to get to one 15-minute musical!

And the most exciting thing?

Finding this gem of a story! I hope it speaks to people today. I love doing this – I never knew I could write a musical, so it’s a newfound gifting and that’s also very exciting.

How do you feel about Belongings a year on?

We had no idea what would happen to Belongings when we started and now it’s going to be at Commissioning in Chicago next June! A group flew over and saw it in Sheffield and they are currently rewriting the script to suit an American audience.

Do you have any plans for a third musical?

I recently collected my daughter from university and it was a six-hour drive – that’s a lot of voice memos! I did start to write Belongings 2, developing some characters and where they are two years later, so maybe there’s scope for that...

Will John Allen – The Salvationist Navvy go on tour too?

We don’t know yet. But it would be manageable for people to perform, because it has a small cast. I’m hoping God will use it, even if it’s just on the day.