A life-sized replica of a Metro train has been featured in a Newcastle United-inspired production - wowing audience members with its realism.

The mocked-up version of the original Metro prototype, carriage 4001, in its familiar 1980s yellow colour scheme, is the centrepiece for Gerry and Sewell, a play which follows the story of two Gateshead lads who are desperate to see their team, Newcastle United, play at home.

Nexus, the company which owns and manages Metro, said that the Metro brand’s prominence in the play underscored its social and cultural importance to the region.

The Northern Echo: Gerry and Sewell is a Newcastle United inspired productionGerry and Sewell is a Newcastle United inspired production (Image: NEXUS)

First told in Jonathan Tulloch’s book, The Season Ticket, then in 2000’s film Purely Belter, the tale of two lads from the wrong side of the Metro tracks who will do whatever it takes to bag a pair of passes into St James’ Park has written itself into the cultural books of the North East.

The Northern Echo: Two of the characters from Gerry and Sewell Two of the characters from Gerry and Sewell (Image: NEXUS)

Customer Services Director at Nexus, Huw Lewis said: “It’s fantastic to see the iconic yellow Metro train providing the backdrop at Live Theatre Newcastle for this latest stage production.

“Metro is such a famous and well-known local brand, which is part of every day life in North East England. The life-sized Metro carriage looks great the stage. The set designers, and the team that built it, have done an outstanding job.

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“We were thrilled when we saw that our train had been brought to life in the play, along with our familiar logo and iconic Metro station cube. It seems to be going down really well with the audiences just as much as the play itself.”

Set towards the end of Mike Ashley’s turbulent toon tenure, and under the management of Steve Bruce, the plot of Gerry and Sewell follows the lads as they work their way through a dossier of dodgy schemes to reach their goal, all the while distracting themselves from an existence where addictions, abuse, illness, poverty, violence and prison are endemic.

But it’s way beyond their means in an age of Premiership football. The lads, low on funds but high on cheek and ingenuity, must resort to other means.