A replica Tyne and Wear Metro will be appearing at Newcastle‘s Theatre Royal this week.

The model is a full-size, mocked-up Metro prototype, carriage 4001, painted in its familiar 1980s colour scheme.

It forms the centrepiece for the play Gerry and Sewell, which tells the story of two young men from Gateshead who are desperate to see Newcastle United play at home.

It is running at the Theatre Royal all this week, from today (Wednesday 2 October) until Saturday (5 October).

Last year, Newcastle’s Live Theatre staged the production with its Metro-themed set, which also features the Metrol logo and station cube. The Theatre Royal will provide it with a larger stage.

The story of Gerry and Sewell was first told in Jonathan Tulloch’s book, The Season Ticket. It was then made into a film, Purely Belter, in 2000. The plot sees “two lads from the wrong side of the Metro tracks” do whatever they can to get passes into St James’ Park, the Magpies’ home ground.

“We’re thrilled to see that the replica Metro train has made it on to the big stage at the Theatre Royal.

“Metro is such a famous and well-known local brand. It’s part of every day life in North East England.

“The life-sized Metro carriage looks great on the bigger stage. The set designers, and the team that built it, have done an outstanding job yet again after we saw it during the play’s run at the Live Theatre at the end of last year.

“It’s a huge buzz to see the Metro carriage along with our familiar logo and iconic Metro station cube on that famous Theatre Royal stage. We hope audiences enjoy seeing it while the play is on all this week.”

Lynne Dickinson, Station Delivery Manager at Nexus

“Gerry & Sewell is a true Geordie tale and as Metro is such an integral part of the region’s identity, it was only fitting for it to be included in the set.

“The life-sized carriage looks really impressive on the stage and fits in perfectly amongst the other set pieces including a replica Angel of the North. We have enjoyed a long association with Metro through the fantastic free travel scheme which enables theatregoers to travel to and from Monument station on the day of their performance and we’re delighted that the iconic carriage takes centre stage and has its own moment in the spotlight.”

Marianne Locatori, Newcastle Theatre Royal Chief Executive