Cruise ~ February 29th, 1988. Soho, London.

Recently nominated for the 2022 Oliver award for Best New Play and following rave reviews, the theatre show CRUISE returns to London’s West End for a strictly limited run from 13 August to 4th September 2022.

The “stunning, joyful and wholeheartedly life-grabbing” (The Guardian), CRUISE The Play is the true story of what should have been Michael Spencer’s last night on earth, performing live for a strictly limited season at the Apollo Theatre, must end 4th September. Following the phenomenal success of its maiden voyage at the Duchess Theatre in 2021, CRUISE returns to the West End to dazzle audiences once again.

When he’s diagnosed with HIV in 1984, Michael is told he’ll have four years to live – at most. So, with the clock ticking, he and his partner Dave decide to sell their house, flog the car, and spend everything they have to party like it’s the last days of Rome. When Dave dies two years later, Michael doubles down on his hedonistic ways, spending what little he has on drink and drugs.

On the last night of his four-year countdown – the 29th February, 1988 – Michael decides to go out with a bang. He puts on his favourite jacket, heads for Soho, and embarks on a long night of farewells. He says his goodbyes, dances, sings, and says yes to everything and everyone. Then, with all his affairs taken care of, Michael promptly… survives.

Michael got lucky. He’s been given the gift of life; but what kind of life can he now live?

Written and performed by Jack Holden (War Horse, Ink) with “vast charm, empathy and energy” (Evening Standard), CRUISE is a celebration of queer culture; a kaleidoscopic musical and spoken word tribute to the veterans of the AIDs crisis; an urgent piece of theatre, with an irresistible 80s soundtrack, which will make you laugh, make you cry, and which inspires us all to live every day as if it’s our last.

The show is directed “with inventive control” (WhatsOnStage) by Bronagh Lagan and features a “pulse-quickening, period-pastiche electro soundtrack” (The Telegraph) performed live by John Elliott. CRUISE plays at the Apollo Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue, London, from 13 August to 4 September 2022.