Adam Lenson’s first solo musical But What If You Die will feature in the reopening programme at the newly renovated Camden People’s Theatre next month.
The director of the recent live-stream hit Public Domain will bring his work-in-progress into a theatre for the first time on 25 and 26 June. Developed through CPT’s Starting Blocks programme, the live performances of the musical about a cancer diagnosis follow an acclaimed digital sharing of the work from Lenson’s flat in January.
Reopening from 15 June, the newly refurbished venue includes a new bar and foyer along with an improved performance space. The eclectic programme which also features the annual feminist theatre festival Calm Down Dear and Prickly Productions’ Immigration Crisis: The Musical will be performed to socially distanced audiences while the venue’s successful digital programme continues online.
Looking forward to the welcoming audiences back for live performances, executive director Kaya Stanley-Money said: “After a rollercoaster year, it feels quite momentous that we’re finally able, not only to reopen our theatre for public performances, but to reopen a theatre that has been totally transformed both inside and out. We’ll be unveiling the finishing touches in the autumn but with the vast majority of the work completed we didn’t want to delay getting the people who make CPT what it is, back in our building. Our capital development project has been fundamental to CPT’s survival during this crisis and now provides the space for us to support ours and our community’s recovery. We’ve been reliant on digital tools and our brilliant local partners to deliver extensive artist support and community projects over the last few months, and now we cannot wait to wait to return to our home and welcome everyone into our beautiful theatre.”
Artistic director Brian Logan added: “We’ve not been dormant for the last year: with digital theatre, engagement projects, outdoor performance and ‘Outside the Box’ thinking, it’s been one of the most active and creative periods in CPT’s history. But something very special has been missing – and we’re delighted that, from mid-June, it’s coming back, with a (Covid-secure!) bang. This two-month season of in-person theatre takes us back to our first love: everyone in a room together (distanced or otherwise…), sharing the experience of adventurous, hot-button performance. We can’t wait to welcome audiences from Camden, London and beyond back to CPT. We promise them a warm welcome and all the thrills that come when a season’s worth of stellar artists, reined in for fifteen months, are finally unleashed.”
All performances will initially be put on sale to socially distanced audiences, with extra tickets released as Government Covid-safety restrictions are lifted.
Angela Thomas
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