In London, one tends to see something different every time they step out the door – but one sight that, albeit with some additions and tweaks, remains the same when we see it on a daily basis is that trusty Tube Map.
It will have helped us all out of a pickle, or at least got us from A to B smoothly, and yet we’d rarely give thought to the designer of it all. This year, a play in the capital is remembering Harry Beck, the creator of the work that lives on 50 years after his death.
Titled The Truth About Harry Beck, the show has been running at, appropriately, the Cubic Theatre in the London Transport Museum since the middle of September. It was slated to run for two months, but the now critically-acclaimed performance has just been extended up until January 5, 2025, giving you an easy choice for an end-of-year day out with the family and/or train enthusiast pals.
The Truth About Harry Beck
Set inside a 110-capacity space, viewers of the play will sit on London Underground-style moquette seating as they will learn about the geographical obsessions of Harry Beck, and his determination to create the perfect Tube map. He did so in 1931, and you’ll learn about the life of him and his wife, Nora, on the journey to connect the dots of the miles of track and create a tool that is still in use, nearly 100 years on.
Writer and director of the play Andy Burden spoke of how meeting with Ken Garland, who published the book Mr Beck’s Underground Map, inspired him to go on and take this story to the stage.
“He leant me copies of Beck’s letters and gave me a small insight into the man,” said Burden, speaking in a press release for the play. “The first short run of the play appeared in September 2021 at the Theatre Royal Bath Ustinov Studio. Sadly, Ken Garland had passed away just months before, so never got to see the play.”
He then added later: “We are absolutely delighted at the wonderful reception we’ve had since opening, and we are even more delighted to be bringing Harry Beck’s story to life to a brand-new theatre audience in this fabulous museum!”
With this level of detail and history going into the performance, this is truly one for the train lovers to nerd out over. Expect to see a meld of real-life accounts, anecdotes uncovered during research, and facts that previously appeared unconnected… with a few fictional characters added in for good measure (this is theatre, after all!).
Also speaking about the play, Elizabeth McKay, Director and CEO for London Transport Museum, said: “The opportunity to introduce this new play about the man behind the famous Tube map was a no-brainer for us. London Transport Museum is a cultural cornerstone in Covent Garden in the heart of theatreland and this play lets you experience one of London’s little-known stories in a brand-new live format. We are bringing the capital’s rich history and characters alive for you.”
‘The Truth About Harry Beck’ runs at the Cubic Theatre in the London Transport Museum until January 5, 2025. You can book your tickets here. There is an 11+ guideline for the show, but the theatre will allow anyone aged 5+ into the performance.