Operation Crucible replays real-life drama of steelworkers trapped by Sheffield bombing blitz

A moving story of four trapped steelworkers during the Sheffield bombing of 1940 will open the new season at the city’s Crucible Theatre Studio.
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Operation Crucible will run from September 2 to 25, 2021, having been rescheduled from last year.

Eighty years ago Sheffield was subjected to a bombing raid which aimed to wipe its world-renowned steel works off the map. A single bomb reduced the Marples Hotel, which stood in Fitzalan Square, from seven storeys to just 15ft of rubble. Only one of ten compartments in the hotel’s cellar withstood the blast. Trapped within it were four steelworkers. This is their story.

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Created by Kieran Knowles, Operation Crucible returns after enjoying a sell-out run at the Studio in 2016. Two years later, the play transferred to New York and played at 59E59 Theaters as part of the ‘Brits Off Broadway Season’. It was a New York Times Critic’s pick and enjoyed a sell-out run before transferring to the Davenport Theatre in New York City in October 2018.

Operation Crucible will be staged from September 2 to 25, 2021.Operation Crucible will be staged from September 2 to 25, 2021.
Operation Crucible will be staged from September 2 to 25, 2021.

To mark the 80th anniversary of the Sheffield Blitz, the play was scheduled to return to the Sheffield Crucible in November 2020, however Covid- 19 restrictions postponed the production.

Tickets can be booked through the Sheffield Theatres box office in person, over the phone on 0114 249 6000 or at www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk.

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