Suffolk audiences will be the first people in the country to see the long-awaited big screen version of the award-winning musical London Road when it is given a preview screening in Ipswich the day before the world premiere in London.

The film is based on the musical drama which opened at the National Theatre in 2011 and uses first person testimony from the residents of London Road, a quiet town-centre street in Ipswich where people found they were living with a killer in their midst.

The play, written by Alecky Blythe, looks at the aftermath of the killings and focuses its attention on how the residents rallied together to forge a new sense of community in the wake of the 2006 prostitute murders and how the area re-discovered its sense of identity and self-worth.

The film, which stars Olivia Colman, Tom Hardy and Anita Dobson, features first person dialogue which is set to music by composer Adam Cork. It’s a combination which won the production widespread critical acclaim when it premiered at the National’s intimate Cottesloe theatre.

The play’s director Rufus Norris, now the newly appointed artistic director of the National, has brought his ground-breaking production to the big screen and has combined big names along with the original stage cast including Kate Fleetwood and Clare Burt, who appeared last year at the New Wolsey in This Is My Family.

The preview is being held at the Ipswich Film Theatre, which is located behind Ipswich Town Hall, on Monday June 8.

Jane Riley, chair of trustees at the volunteer-run cinema, said: “This is a wonderful vote of confidence to be the first people to screen this film.

“It is only fitting that the people of Ipswich should be the first people to see this important film.

“It’s also worth stressing that it’s a film about friendship, resilience and the restorative power of community rather than a ghoulish look at a series of sex-murders.”

The play’s author Alecky Blythe has kept in touch with the residents of London Road and with representatives of the Iceni Project which helped local sex workers find a life off the streets and she will be introducing the screening. It is hoped that Rufus Norris may also be able to attend the screening along with some members of the cast.

The IFT will also be screening a NT live broadcast of the London premiere on the following evening which will include a Q&A with Rufus Norris and Olivia Colman.

Tickets are now on sale for both screenings and can be booked at www.iftt.co.uk