Why Be Happy?

How do you forge a self when the world wants you to be normal? This May, first year students present “Why Be Happy?”, a daring 60-minute musical weaving together the life and fiction of groundbreaking author Jeanette Winterson. 
 
Adapted from “Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?” and “The PowerBook”, the production interlaces five narrative threads: Winterson's Accrington childhood, the forbidden passion of Paolo and Francesca, the tulip smuggling from Denmark to Turkey, the clandestine letters of Vita Sackville-West and Violet Trefusis, and the raw poetry of “The PowerBook”. 
 
Featuring the work of 18 students, this devised ensemble piece explores how women love, lose, and write themselves into being. The production runs 21–22 May 2026 at the Clegg Studio, stage@leeds. Admission free. 
 
Don't miss this bold interrogation of love, identity, and the stories we tell to survive!