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Nominated for the 2022 Olivier Award for Best New Play Set in London's Soho in the 1980s,
Cruise tells the story of what should have been Michael Spencer's last night on Earth. Diagnosed with HIV in 1984, he's told by doctors that he has just four years to live, so as the clock runs down, Michael decides to go out in style. As he parties and bids final farewells to his friends, the clock strikes zero and Michael. survives. With the gift of life, how can he go on living?
Jack Holden's debut play Cruise is a kaleidoscopic new monologue celebrating queer culture and paying tribute to a generation of gay men lost to the AIDS crisis. This edition was published to coincide with its West End production in May 2021.
About the author
Jack Holden trained as an actor at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and has participated in the Royal Court Young Writers Programme and the Channel 4 Screenwriting Course. He was recently on attachment at the National Theatre Studio.
His debut play Cruise—a kaleidoscopic, musical odyssey through Soho and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s—premiered at the Duchess Theatre in Summer 2021 to widespread critical acclaim, and was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best New Play 2022. Its second sold-out run took place at the Apollo Theatre in August 2022, and it received its first international production in Johannesburg. Cruise premiered in Australia in February 2025, with productions in Mexico, Brazil and Uruguay forthcoming.
Jack wrote the book for Club NVRLND, an immersive club musical based on J M Barrie’s Peter Pan, which premiered with a sold-out run at Assembly Checkpoint, Edinburgh in Summer 2025. For the Almeida Theatre, Jack adapted Alan Hollinghurst’s Booker Prize-winning novel The Line of Beauty. The production, directed by Michael Grandage, played to sell-out audiences in October/November 2025.
Jack is also developing screen projects with Working Title, Independent Entertainment, World Productions, MMXX, and Michael Grandage Company. He has taken part in development writers rooms for Joi Productions and Genial.
As an actor, Jack was most recently seen in John Morton’s Ten Percent (Amazon) and Stefan Golaszewski’s Marriage (BBC One). He has also starred in British independent films, and on stage at the National, the RSC, the Almeida, and multiple times in the West End.
Jack has also produced award-winning short films. Blood Out Of A Stone premiered at BFI Flare 2018; The Rev was backed by BFI Network and premiered at London Film Festival 2022; Under The Blue has been winning awards around the world since 2024. In January 2025, Jack made his debut as writer-director with his short film Safari, produced by My Accomplice. Together, they are developing Jack’s debut writer-director feature film, Man Made.
Summary
Nominated for the 2022 Olivier Award for Best New Play
Set in London’s Soho in the 1980s, Cruise tells the story of what should have been Michael Spencer’s last night on Earth. Diagnosed with HIV in 1984, he’s told by doctors that he has just four years to live, so as the clock runs down, Michael decides to go out in style. As he parties and bids final farewells to his friends, the clock strikes zero and Michael… survives. With the gift of life, how can he go on living?
Jack Holden’s debut play Cruise is a kaleidoscopic new monologue celebrating queer culture and paying tribute to a generation of gay men lost to the AIDS crisis. This edition was published to coincide with its West End production in May 2021.
Foreword
Jack Holden's West End debut Cruise is a kaleidoscopic new play celebrating queer culture and paying tribute to the generation of gay men lost to the AIDS crisis.
Additional text
A captivating story and a must watch
