Stephen Fry, that giant of British comedy, television and film, has written his first opera and it is to have its world premiere performed by a Croydon-based musical company.

Stephen Fry: bringing opera to Croydon
Polymath and TV panel show host Fry announced that the work, The Life to Come, with music written by Louis Sebastian Mander, will be performed at The Harlequin Theatre, Redhill, at the end of September by Surrey Opera.
They will then perform the piece twice more, at the Trinity School Theatre in Shirley Park, on October 21.
Surrey Opera regularly perform in Croydon and hold their rehearsals at Clyde Hall, near East Croydon Station, on Monday evenings.
Fry’s libretto is based on a short story by EM Forster.

The actor and writer’s announcement via Twitter today
He tweeted the news of its premiere date, and an October performance at the Oslo Opera House, to his 12.7million followers today.
On its website, when announcing the production, Surrey Opera said that it “is actively looking for additional enthusiastic chorus members, especially black singers”.
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