Lily Allen ‘in talks’ to turn West End Girl album into a play | Lily Allen

Lily Allen has said she is in discussions about turning her hit album West End Girl into a play, possibly for the West End itself.

Speaking on The Tonight Show in the US, host Jimmy Fallon said: “In London, they are trying to turn West End Girl into a play.”

“That’s right,” Allen replied. When asked if she was involved, Allen said: “I might be. The ink’s not dry…but, you know, I’m definitely having some conversations with people about it. It’s very exciting.”

West End Girl certainly lends itself to drama: the album is a sustained piece of balladry depicting marriage and its dissolution.

Allen said she was “inspired by what happened” in her marriage to American actor David Harbour, known for his roles in Stranger Things and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “There are recorded things that I went through during my marriage, but that doesn’t mean it’s all gospel,” she told Vogue.

The album begins with a happy scene of someone moving—as Allen did in real life—to New York, where she and Harbor bought a house together (“Now I’m looking at four- or five-story houses / And I found ours a brownstone, and I said ‘Do you want it? It’s yours’”).

But an argument about returning to London to perform in a play – something Allen has also done in real life, appearing in 2:22 Ghost Story – spoils the rest of the opening song, and things get worse in the following songs: infidelity, sex addiction, drug use and the horrors of dating apps are explored as marriage becomes a toxic open relationship.

West End Girl, Allen’s first album since 2018, reached No. 2 in the UK charts and was one of the pop culture moments of 2025. Allen performs the entire album in a sold-out show in UK theaters in 2026, then tours arenas.

The album has also found a large audience in the US: Allen is performing on Saturday Night Live this weekend, and will begin a US tour in April.