Julian Light Operatic Society presents Ruddigore, Gilbert and Sullivan’s gothic masterpiece, fully staged, with orchestra, costumes and specially designed sets, reinterpreted for modern media madness!
TV stars, would-be celebrities, journalists and media barons fill our stage competing for your attention, and for the ultimate prize: fame and fortune.
Hearts are broken, couples come together and are torn apart, headlines are made, and a whole range of unsavoury behaviour takes place to ensure that the wheels of the paparazzi keep turning!
Our production is fun and playful, and our characters are larger than life; but we also have a glance at the darker side of the celebrity world, and the price people pay to stay relevant.
Rose is a beautiful young star, fresh from the latest reality TV franchise, who is in love with shy and reticent Robin who eschews the limelight, and harbors a terrible secret.
Their world, like everyone else’s, is overshadowed by the Ruddigore Press, whose chief editor must commit a crime everyday or die horribly, as the result of a centuries old curse.
The current media baron, Sir Despard, is being driven mad by phone hacking, undercover stings, bribes and fake news. There seems to be no way out of this terrible cycle, and all our characters look doomed to unhappiness; can anyone find a solution that might lead to a sort-of happy ever after?