Fanny & Stella opens tonight
London theatre news: Tuesday 11 August 2020
Musicals - Open Air Theatre
Fanny and Stella - the first London fringe musical since lockdown in March opens tonight at the Garden Theatre in Vauxhall.
Ernest Park and Frederick Boulton
It's been a long time coming ... but tonight we're getting back into something like theatrical normality with the resurgence of London press nights!
And first out of the blocks is opening night for Fanny & Stella - the first London fringe production since theatres closed due to the coronavirus outbreak - which has its press performances this evening.
This new socially distanced, open-air production is the premiere production at The Garden Theatre in the newly refurbished beer garden of The Eagle in Kennington Lane, Vauxhall.
The show has already been playing since 3 August and will continue to the 25th.
Fanny And Stella is directed by Steven Dexter and produced by Peter Bull for LAMBCO Productions.
Here are some production shots from the show ...
Show listing information
Synopsis
Ernest Park and Frederick Boulton were two young men who, in 1871, were put on trial in London for dressing as women and conspiracy to commit sodomy, a felony at the time.
They dressed up as women (and were very good at it) for amateur theatricals, but when the show was over, and sometimes when there wasn't even any show, as 'Fanny and Stella' they would frequent places of entertainment in the West End where men encountered men for sex and male prostitutes plied their trade.
Park and Boulton were acquitted - an amazing victory for the time when sexual acts between men carried a sentence of two years - perhaps it was because one had a father who was a judge, and the other a mother who swayed the court with her tears.
Upon their acquittal, Park and Boulton - as Fanny and Stella - along with their theatre company, take their story on the road.
They hire a venue for "one night only" to tell their amazing true story of their lives, their trial, and their sensational acquittal.
This is their "tell-all-tale", told for us, right here, no-holds barred, through song, dance and a whole barrel of comedy and fun!
But are they, in an unforgiving age, putting themselves on trial a second time?
Cast
Jed Berry - Ernest Boulton/Stella
Kurt Kansley - Lord Arthur Clinton
Alex Lodge - Louis Charles Hurt
Mark Pearce - Mr Grimes
Joaquin Pedro Valdes - John Safford Fiske
Kane Verrall - Frederick William Park/Fanny
Creatives
Author: Glenn Chandler (book)
Composer: Charles Miller
Lyricist: Glenn Chandler
Director: Steven Dexter
Designer: David Shields
Musical direction: Aaron Clingham
Production: Peter Bull for LAMBCO Productions
Venue
349 Kennington Lane
London
SE11 5QY
Dates
From: Monday 3 August 2020
Closed: Friday 4 September 2020
Tickets
Standard: £16.00 + bkng fee
Links
Show website
ActDrop full listing for Fanny & Stella
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