La boheme

Puccini’s most enduring opera. The story of the love of the poor poet Rodolfo for the consumptive seamstress Mimi. Set in the Latin Quarter of Paris the course of their love is constantly threatened by Rodolfo’s jealousy and Mimi’s illness. The painter Marcello and the provocative Musetta are the other main characters. This is where ‘your tiny hand is frozen’ comes from and the last few bars, as Rodolfo realises Mimi is dead, are some of opera’s most moving moments.

Renowned for his inventive, contemporary reinterpretations of classic theatre and opera Adam Spreadbury-Maher, who is directing this time around, will focus upon the quintessential quartet – Mimi, Musetta, Rodolfo (Ralph) and Marcello (Mark) – and it will be lifted from when Puccini set his opera in the early 19th century to present day East London. The production will lay bare the dangerous and damaging effects of co-dependent relationships against a backdrop of spiralling rents and social media.