Soho theatre’s autumn season will feature the transfer of Edinburgh production I ♥ Peterborough, a season of horror theatre and a series of plays responding to 2012’s Arab uprisings.
I ♥ Peterborough, which can currently be seen north of the border, is a tale of ‘growing up gay’ in a provincial city from playwright Joel Horwood, who previously collaborated with Soho’s Artistic Director Steve Marmion on pantomimes Jack And The Beanstalk, Aladdin and Dick Whittington. The darkly comic show, which is co-directed by Horwood and Ivan Cutting, features Lulu, who is described as “a big bloke with a dodgy wig, six-inch heels and delusions of celebrity.
I ♥ Peterborough runs in the theatre’s Upstairs space from 9 to 20 October, where it is followed by a new play from Colin Teevan, The Kingdom. Staged by Three Legged Theatre Company, it mixes Greek myth with the life of an Irish navvy to tell a tale of immigration, violence, sex, triumph and tragedy. The Kingdom runs from 24 October to 17 November.
The season in the upstairs theatre continues from 21 November to 1 December with Arab Nights, a collection of short plays by writers from Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria responding to events in the Middle East.
Soho’s subterranean space takes on a far more sinister feel between 16 October and 3 November, when the Terror season returns. The UK’s only annual season of horror theatre, which is now in its ninth year, features twisted tales from contributors including Adam Meggido, Darren Ormondy, Lisa McGee, Anthony Banks and Matt Peover.
Away from its West End home, Soho is co-producing Finding Butterfly at the Limehouse Town Hall. This radical new interpretation of Madam Butterfly uses Puccini’s original music, but looks at the story from the point of view of Butterfly’s son. When he returns to Nagasaki in 1948, a war hero and boxing champion, he rediscovers his heritage and the truth about his parents. Finding Butterfly runs from 3 to 20 October.
In addition to its theatrical offerings, Soho’s autumn season also includes the return of storytelling company Crick Crack Club, Soho favourites Pajama Men performing an entirely improvised comedy show and short runs by comedians including David Baddiel and Shappi Khorsandi.