Rehearsals begin this week for the world premiere production of The Flea by James Fritz (Lava, Ross & Rachel, Parliament Square) at The Yard Theatre. Class, crisis, cover-ups, and the crown feature in this retelling of the Cleveland Street scandal which shook the country in 1889.

The Flea will be directed by The Yard’s Founder and Artistic Director, Jay Miller and runs from 11 October to 18 November (press night, 17 October). The cast includes Connor Finch, Scott Karim, Norah Lopez Holden, Séamus McLean Ross and Sonny Poon Tip.
Now a largely forgotten episode in London and LGBTQ+ history, the Cleveland Street scandal rocked the nation when a homosexual male brothel in Fitzrovia was discovered by police. At the time, sexual acts between men were illegal in Britain, and the brothel’s clients faced possible prosecution and certain levels of social rejection if discovered.
The government was accused of covering up aspects of the story to protect the names of aristocrats and other prominent patrons. It was rumoured that Prince Albert Victor, Queen Victoria’s grandson and second-in-line to the British throne, had visited. The police acquired testimonies that Lord Arthur Somerset, an equerry to the Prince of Wales, was a patron but both he and the brothel keeper, Charles Hammond, managed to flee abroad before a prosecution could be brought.
Although no clients were ever prosecuted, the male prostitutes, who also worked as telegraph messenger boys for the General Post Office were unable to rely on the same network of protection as their upper-class patrons. In acts that echo throughout the ages, they were tried by public opinion, humiliated in the press and given custodial sentences.
James Fritz is a playwright from South London. His plays for stage include Cashmoney Now (The Big House), Lava (Fifth Word/Soho Theatre), The Fall (National Youth Theatre/Southwark Playhouse), Parliament Square (Royal Exchange/Bush Theatre), Start Swimming (Young Vic), Ross & Rachel (Assembly/BAC/59E59), Four Minutes Twelve Seconds (Hampstead Theatre/Trafalgar Studios) and LINES (Rosemary Branch Theatre). Plays for audio include: The Test Batsman’s Room At The End Of The World, Dear Harry Kane, Eight Point Nine Nine, Death Of A Cosmonaut, Comment Is Free (all BBC Radio 4) and Skyscraper Lullaby (Audible Originals)
He has won the Critics Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright, the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, The Imison and Tinniswood BBC Audio Drama Awards and the ARIA Radio Academy Award for Best Drama on two separate occasions. He has also been nominated for the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre and was runner-up in the 2013 Verity Bargate Award.
As part of The Yard’s Schools Programme, through which the theatre offers schools in East London a pre-show workshop, a special matinee performance, and a post-show Q&A, all for £5 per student, James will facilitate workshops unpacking the themes of The Flea and explore the creative team’s approach to making the production.
Director Jay Miller is the theatre director who founded The Yard Theatre and has been the driving force behind the organisation since its inception. Jay’s credits at The Yard have included This Beautiful Future by Rita Kalnejais (5* The Stage), The Crucible (5* The Sunday Times, Evening Standard) and Dirty Crusty by Clare Barron (5* Evening Standard).
Miller said, ‘The Flea is a glorious depiction of Victorian England, demonstrating that although progress does take place, some things always stay the same. This is a vivid (and sometimes hilarious) portrait of Royal Britain. A Britain that is angry, deferential, unequal, patient and in awe of its past.’
Connor Finch plays Arthur Somerset and Henry Newlove. He trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. The Flea is his professional stage debut. Connor’s breakthrough screen role was Street in the hugely successful BBC TV adaptation of Dolly Alderton’s Everything I Know About Love. Other screen credits include ITV’s Professor T and The Larkins.

Scott Karim plays Abberline, Hammond and Gladstone. He recently wrapped a sold-out West End run of 2:22 A Ghost Story (Lyric Theatre) opposite Cheryl Cole. His other credits include Chasing Hares (Young Vic), The Invisible Hand (Kiln Theatre), Great Britain and Othello (National Theatre), Oklahoma! and The Country Wife (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Arrival and Invisible (Bush Theatre), The Village (Theatre Royal Stratford East) and Young Marx (Bridge Theatre). Scott is currently in HALO for Paramount+. Other television credits include Dracula and The Dumping Ground (BBC), The Great (Hulu), Electric Dreams: Crazy Diamond (Channel 4) and Britannia (Sky).

Norah Lopez Holden plays Queen Victoria and Emily Swinscow. Norah’s previous stage appearances include The Art of Illusion (Hampstead), Hamlet (Young Vic), Equus (Theatre Royal Stratford East), The Winter’s Tale/Eyam (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Almighty Sometimes and Our Town (Royal Exchange, Manchester), Ghosts (HOME, Manchester), and Epic Love and Pop Songs (Pleasance, Edinburgh). On radio she has appeared in Our Friends In The North, and other productions for BBC Radio 4.

Séamus McLean Ross plays Charlie Swinscow and Bertie Prince of Wales. He trained at Guildhall School of Music & Drama. The Flea is his professional stage debut. At Guildhall, credits include Road directed by Paul Foster, Julius Ceasar directed by Anna Morrisey and Either, directed by Paapa Essiedu. His screen credits include ITV’s Loss & Return and Eleventh Hour’s Rebus.

Sonny Poon Tip plays Hanks, Barwell and Euston. Sonny trained with the National Youth Theatre Rep Company. He played regular Leo Bloom in the latest series of Industry for BBC and HBO. Most recently, Sonny has wrapped on a TBA Disney+ series. Other TV credits include Halo (Paramount+), Holby City (BBC), Intruder (Channel 5), Professor T (ITV) and Anatomy of a Scandal (Netflix). His theatre credits; Three Sisters (Almeida Theatre), directed by Rebecca Frecknall.
In line with The Yard Theatre’s approach to exploring the stories and ideas in shows in different ways, two events have been programmed alongside performances of The Flea. First, audience members are invited to sit down with James Fritz and Jay Miller to discuss the show over pie and mash at Conversations Over Dinner on 2 November. Later in the run The Yard will host King of Kings, a cabaret evening hosted by dragking royalty Beau Jangles on 16 November. Every Friday and Saturday audiences are also warmly invited to continue their night at The Yard by being part of the theatre’s nightlife programme, when the bar becomes a home for collectives from across London’s subcultures, with a particular focus on queer communities.