La Boheme transfers to Soho Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
ROBIN Norton-Hale’s critically acclaimed production of La Boheme, which is currently playing at The Cock Tavern Theatre, will transfer to Soho Theatre, where it runs from July 27 to September 4, 2010.
Norton-Hale’s La Boheme is transported from 1830s Bohemian Paris to modern day Soho, in a production that has been conceived to make Puccini’s opera as visceral, funny, accessible and emotionally engaging as it was for its first performance in 1896.
The story begins on Christmas Eve and revolves around Mimi and Rodolfo, profoundly in love but unable to find a way to make their relationship succeed.
Mimi has moved to England from Romania and is working as a cleaner. She lives alone in a North London bedsit, amid a group of middle-class boys who are indulging in a carefree, artistic, Bohemian lifestyle; spending the little money they have on nights out and parties. It’s only when Rodolfo falls for Mimi that the group discover the complexity of living for love and art.
Puccini’s score is described as a rollercoaster of human emotion that juxtaposes comedy with deep love and underlying tragedy.
The inaugural production from OperaUpClose, La Boheme has musical direction by Andrew Charity (Pierrot Lunaire, Cosi Fan Tutte, Kiss of the Spiderwoman) and set and costume design by Kate Guinness and Lucy Read.
Talking about the transfer, Mark Godfrey, Executive Director of Soho Theatre, said:
“OperaUpClose’s groundbreaking new translation of La Boheme makes a very contemporary, very London piece. It’s the first opera to be staged at Soho Theatre and, just as Kilburn played a big part in the production there, Soho too will provide a perfect setting for the story. We’re enormously excited to be bringing it to Soho Theatre and hope it will further broaden the audience for this vital and record-breaking production.”
And Adam Spreadbury-Maher, Artistic Director of OperaUpClose, said:
“I am honoured to be bringing La Boheme to Soho Theatre, the first transfer from The Cock Tavern into another venue. I’m extremely proud of what all my team here have achieved, particularly as we have only been running for a year. I think it’s a great demonstration of what can be accomplished with an in-house producing model, particularly in a tiny, unfunded theatre like ours. If the work is good, it gets recognised, and an enterprising theatre like The Soho can give it further life, bringing it to a larger London audience.”
The five month run at The Cock Tavern Theatre (from December 8, 2009 to May 15, 2010), where all performances are now sold out, makes it the longest running continuously performed La Boheme in history.
Read more about La Boheme