A THURROCK-born and lifelong resident is looking forward to the West End premiere of his new musical next week - the culmination of a theatrical journey that began on the boards of the Thameside Theatre in Grays.

Richy Hughes, 51, from Orsett wrote the book and co-wrote lyrics for the musical 'The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind' which opens at London's newest theatre venue, @SohoPlace, on Wednesday (29 April), where it will run until July.

The production is based on the international best-selling book of the same name, which tells the extraordinary true story of William Kamkwamba.

William wants to build a windmill in his native Malawi. Nobody believes he can – not his father nor his friends. Hope feels out of reach where the land is thirsty but the rains don't come. As drought closes in on his family's farm and the village he loves, everyone prays for a miracle. 

Richy travelled to Malawi as part of his research for the project.

All William has to hand are some library books and scraps of old machinery. The rest must come from within. Will he defy expectations? Will the wind turn the sails of his invention, produce the gift of power, and give hope for tomorrow? 

It's the start of an amazing journey that has been told on film and now on stage.

And it's also the latest giant stride for Richy, who grew up performing at the Thameside, firstly with TOPS and the Thameside Youth Theatre, and later with Thurrock Thameside Musical Society, a group founded by his father.

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Richy has always lived in Thurrock, currently residing in Orsett with his wife, Nikki, and children, Jessie and Harry, who he says 'support and inspire me on a daily basis'.

Richy told Thurrock Nub News: "From a young age, I would write parody songs for school revue and family birthdays, but I couldn't see a route towards becoming a professional musical theatre writer. That was until I entered a comedy song into an open submission for a show at the Soho Theatre.

"The song was chosen to be part of the production, and I was quickly welcomed into London's community of musical theatre writers, encouraged and mentored by the likes of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe (Honk, Mary Poppins).

"From here I joined a professional development workshop called BML (BOOK, Music, Lyrics) where, over the course of the next four years, I honed my natural ear for a rhyme into a real craft for theatre song writing.

"A showcase of the group's work was attended by esteemed producer, Kenny Wax, who was impressed with my work and invited me to come on board as lyricist for an adaptation of 'Mr Popper's Penguins' that he had commissioned.

"The show went on to play in both the West End and on Broadway, as well as having extensive UK and US tours.

"I went on to write a second family show for Kenny, and adaptation of the popular children's book series 'Oi Frog and Friends,' which was nominated for an Olivier Award in the family theatre category. 'The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind' marks my third project with Kenny at the helm, and it is a relief to finally graduate to a show with a human being in the title."

"I first came across 'The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind' during the coronavirus lockdowns. My best friend from secondary school and to this day, George Sangwani Harrison, was born and raised in Malawi, where the story is set, so when the title popped up on Netflix with the promise of an inspiring true story set in his homeland, I was intrigued.

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"Two hours later, I was ordering the memoir and making enquiries as to who to approach to secure the rights for a stage adaptation. This happened to be Oscar-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor.

"Together with my collaborator on the project Tim Sutton, I began work on a pitch to send to Chiwetel.

"This included our vision for how we intended to tell the story, a demo-recording of a song for our teenage protagonist, and our opening scene. Soon thereafter we were in a Zoom meeting with the Hollywood actor, trying to keep the smiles off of our faces as he told us that he loved our vision for the piece and was fully behind the idea.

"SInce then, Tim, George and I have embarked on two eye-opening trips to Malawi, researching the music, language, culture and traditions of life in rural Malawi, and making discoveries that have fed into our musical in countless and significant ways.

"We were lucky enough to meet William Kamkwamba himself in his home village of Wimbe, Kasungu, where we stood in quiet awe at the foot of his 'Electric Wind Machine.'

"In 2024 our project was picked up by The Royal Shakespeare Company who, together with commercial producer Kenny Wax (Six, The Play That Goes Wrong), agreed to give our work its World premiere at their Swan Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Following its acclaimed run there, the musical now has its London premiere at the West End's newest theatre, @SohoPlace."

'The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind.' 

@ Soho Place 28th April - 18th July 2026

Tickets www.boyharnessedwindmusical.com or sohoplace.org

Book and Lyrics - Richy Hughes

Music and Lyrics - Tim Sutton

Director - Lynette Linton