Viv Hardwick reports on how a nearly-forgotten sporting hero has produced sold out shows for playwright Ed Waugh and actor Jamie Brown

A NORTH-EAST play about a Geordie rower is set to play to sell-out crowds in London and will reach the Gods at Newcastle's 1200-seat Theatre Royal.

Hadaway Harry, the incredible story of the great Tyneside Victorian rower Harry Clasper, will be performed next week (Feb 17 and 18) for three out-of-town shows at London Rowing Club in Putney on the banks of the River Thames, opposite where Harry led teams from the region to clinch eight Championship of the World titles from 1845 to 1859.

Harry "Hadaway" Clasper was one of the most well known sportsmen in Great Britain and the best-known and most popular sportsman in the North East for 35 years, from 1845 to his death in 1870.

When he died, aged 58, more than I30,000 people lined the streets of Newcastle and Gateshead to bid their final respects to a man who designed rowing boats, trained North East world rowing champions and had the Blaydon Races song penned in his honour.

Hadaway Harry focuses on the very first time the Geordie oarsmen - led by Clasper and comprising his brothers - defeated the "unbeatable" Thamesmen at Putney in 1845.

Award winning actor Jamie Brown will star in the show that premiered to sell-out crowds and standing ovations in the North East in June 2015.

Wayne Miller will be in a supporting role in the show that focuses on 1845 Harry winning has very first Championship of the World title

Jamie Brown explained: "The drama is incredible. It took ten years of dedication, hard work and occasional humiliation for Harry to revolutionise rowing boats and train the team that set the benchmark for British rowing.

"Hundreds of thousands of people watched rowing on rivers throughout Britain and bet on its outcome. It was the sport of the working class before football and Harry, a former Durham miner, was the Champion of the Tyne, Wear, Tees, Mersey, Scotland and Thames."

Sponsored for the London shows by Newcastle Theatre Royal, South Tyneside-based Vic Young, Virgin Trains and South Tyneside Council, Hadaway Harry is being directed by Russell Floyd, who starred in The Bill and Eastenders and is touring the UK in All or Nothing, the Small Faces musical in which he plays the band's manager Don Arden (Sharon Osbourne's father).

Mr Floyd said: "The response for "Harry" at Newcastle and Putney has been incredible.

"The local Putney radio, press and social media are amazed by his story. The Friday show on February 17 is completely sold out and the Saturday matinee and evening show are heading the same way."

South Shields-based Von Fox Promotions have produced a Hadaway Harry trailer for Putney.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKRKcgWnXTk&t=41s&ab_channel=VonFoxPromotions

  • Hadaway Harry will be performed at London Rowing Club, Putney (SW15 1LB) on Friday and Saturday, February 17 and 18, before transferring to Newcastle Theatre Royal on Friday and Saturday, February 24 and 25. For further details visit: www.hadawayharry.co.uk