Preview: Fixing on tour

Fixing

A drag show about family breakups and car breakdowns

Photo: Tom Platinum Morley

When Matt was little, their dad bought a classic car - a 1952 Sunbeam Talbot Mark II. Dad had dreams of working on it together, repairing and rebuilding as a father-child project. They never did, and the car sat festering in a garage while Dad dealt with divorce. Now in their 30s, Matt wants to learn how to fix a car engine. More than that, they want to understand Dad better, and that difficult time when their parents split up - the period when Matt and Dad were actually closest.

There's a problem though: Matt can't do this alone, which is tricky for a solo show. Enter Natalie Spanner, Matt's drag alter-ego, who knows all about things that girls like Natalie know about - like how to build an engine, and all about maintenance, care and repair. Together, Matt and Natalie will ask, in an increasingly broken world, how might we repair ourselves, together?

Photo: Tom Platinum Morley

Created by Matt Miller and Peader Kirk and performed by Miller, Fixing is their third collaboration and first venture into drag performance. At a time when connections seem to be breaking down more than ever - through divisive global politics and fractured personal relationships - this intimate show initiates vital conversations around care, nurture, rupture and recovery. It asks audiences to consider what maintenance means in the context of their own relationships.

The piece combines personal storytelling with broader social questions, blending the mechanics of car repair with the harder work of fixing family bonds. Choosing the right shade of lipstick becomes as important as selecting the right spanner, and learning to maintain an engine mirrors the ongoing work of maintaining relationships.

Miller, a Nottingham-based theatre maker and poet who grew up in Tyneside, has been praised by Ian McMillan for their "powers of urban storytelling." Their previous collaborations with director Peader Kirk - Sticking and Fitting - played to sold-out audiences and toured nationally. Kirk himself has directed over 50 shows internationally, working everywhere from the Southbank Centre to the National Theatre of Greece.

Following its world premiere at Newcastle's Alphabetti Theatre and a short autumn 2025 tour, Fixing returns to the North East where it was first developed. The show previously appeared as a work-in-progress at Hexham's inaugural Pride Festival in 2023, making its homecoming particularly significant.

In a world obsessed with buying new and throwing away what's broken, Fixing offers something refreshingly different: a meditation on the value of repair, the intimacy of maintenance, and the courage it takes to fix what matters most.

Tickets:

Gala Theatre, Durham - Friday 20 February 2026
Book at galadurham.co.uk/galapost/fixing

Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle - Friday 27 to Saturday 28 February 2026
Book at www.alphabettitheatre.co.uk/fixing

ARC Stockton Arts Centre - Saturday 7 March 2026
Book at arconline.co.uk/whats-on/fixing

For more information: mattmillertheatre.com