OperaUpClose will return to the Soho theatre later this year as part of an eclectic summer season that will also feature a series of dramas about sexual identity, individual struggles and the pursuit of happiness.
The acclaimed company behind Olivier Award-winning hit La Bohème, OperaUpClose will return to the venue following 2011’s Don Giovanni to present Puccini’s Tosca from 14 August to 15 September. The tale of love, lust and the corrupting influence of power, which has been brought forward to East Germany in the late 80s, tells the story of the title character, who is caught between political corruption and loyalty to her lover.
John Grogan’s The Magic will play from 20 to 24 August. The haunting and lyrical bittersweet tragedy tells the story of one man’s eternal struggle with the changing world as he prepares for his comeback gig having fallen on hard times.
The Magic will be followed by My Pregnant Brother from 28 August to 1 September. Exploring issues surrounding sexual and psychological identity, the story takes inspiration from writer Johanna Nutter’s transgendered, bipolar, schizophrenic brother. After giving birth to a baby, he asked Johanna to start a family with him, but when she refused he gave the baby away to a woman he met on the internet.
From 3 to 29 September, Paper Scissors Stone will present Microcosm, which charts the story of Alex, who couldn’t be happier, living in his own home with partner Clare. Nothing can put a stop to this happiness, he just wishes that the local kids would stop hanging around his house, but little does he know how dangerous they can be.
Completing the season are a series of dates from storytelling company The Crick Crack Club, which include The Green Man Of No Man’s Land (16 September), Eros And Psyche (21 October), Mr Sandman – Bringer Of Dreams And Nightmares (18 November) and On Common Ground – The Life And Times Of John Clare (2 December).
As always, the Soho theatre’s summer season will also welcome a wealth of cabaret and comedy acts including Australian comedian Luke McGregor’s My Soul Mate Is Out Of My League (5 to 17 August), groundbreaking ventriloquist Nina Conti’s Dolly Mixtures (29 July to 10 August), Shi*ty Trivia by suburban absurdist comedian Sam Simmons (12 to 24 August) and satirists Bourgeois and Maurice’s Sugar Tits (9 to 21 September).
Also performing at the venue this summer, following Joe Dempsie’s recent appearance in Even Stillness Breathes Softly Against A Brick Wall, is another Game Of Thrones star Gemma Whelan. The actress, whose London stage credits include the National Theatre’s hit production of One Man, Two Guvnors, will star in the previously announced Dark Vanilla Jungle, Philip Ridley’s breathtaking new drama about one girl’s craving for family and home, which plays on 20 and 21 July.