A night of stirring live folk music and storytelling comes to Wolverhampton Arts Centre this October, as Grace Will Lead Me Home takes to the stage on Saturday 18 October 2025.

To mark John Newton’s 300th birthday, Angeline Morrison; Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne; Jon Bickley and John Palmer explore his life; the inextricable link between his hymn Amazing Grace and the slave trade; its iconic status as a protest against oppression and its relevance to today’s legacies of colonialism.

It’s a show built around the songs from a critically-acclaimed album that is also rated by Mojo magazine and The Daily Worker as one of 2024’s Top Ten, and has emerged from a three-year Arts-Council project.

The project has already produced a series of exhibitions, podcasts, videos, lectures, seminars and an album.

The live version of Grace Will Lead Me Home uses traditionally-based and new songs, linked by 18th century diaries and writings from Newton, Wilberforce, Equanio and other contemporaries, to highlight all aspects of his life; how Amazing Grace became such an iconic statement of protest and what it means in the modern world.

Suzanne Elkin, Marketing Officer at Wolverhampton Arts Centre, said:

“We’re really proud to be hosting Grace Will Lead Me Home as part of the well established folk programme here at the arts centre. It’s exactly the kind of meaningful, thought-provoking work we love bringing to Wolverhampton audiences.”

Tickets for Grace Will Lead Me Home are on sale now at wolverhamptonartscentre.co.uk.