Troy Boy comes to Highgate

The Merry Opera Company’s new staging of Troy Boy, an adaptation of Offenbach’s La Belle Helene by Kit Hesketh-Harvey, opens at the Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Highgate before touring nationally.

Kit is largely known for his work with Kit & The Widow and regular panel appearances on Radio 4’s Just A Minute, but he has been adapting, writing and translating since 1988. Credits include the Royal Opera House, Scottish Opera, ENO and this Autumn The Merry Widow for Opera North.

The Merry Opera Company is a new company which aims to make opera accessible and fun. It generally includes a run at a London fringe venue and then goes on tour. It has received Arts Council funding and will also do 3 nights in the summer at Scoop. The cast includes Christopher Diffey, Rosie Coad and Anthony Flaum who recently appeared in the Cock Tavern’s acclaimed production of La Bohème at Soho Theatre.

The action for Troy Boy translation has been transported to suburban England where the beautiful Helen’s well and truly fed up with her very boring husband. So a trip to the local Greek restaurant and an encounter with the handsome waiter from Troy can only lead to trouble! In the blink of an eye they find themselves in Faliraki, and the rest, as they say, is history!

Troy Boy runs from Wed 9 February to Sat 5 March 2010. Upstairs at the Gatehouse, The Gatehouse Pub, Highgate Village, London N6 4BD. Box Office: 020 8340 3488.