HOMO PROMOS, the UK’s oldest LGBT+ theatre company, moves into the world of opera with the premiere of a haunting but true story.

A shy and lonely teenage boy, a dreamer; an old man with a secret, once greatly loved, haunted by the past; a protective and suspicious mother, determined on the truth. When the three collide, can catastrophe be averted? An evocative meditation on legacy and heritage; what we hand down is often not what we think. A kind of ‘Death in Venice’ turned on its head, from the viewpoint of the boy Tadzio.

A friend of librettist Peter Scott-Presland turned 80 at the millennium and was still haunted by the way he had betrayed an old man over sixty years before, a man who had shown him nothing but kindness. “I wanted to show how our actions echo down the ages,” says Presland. “History walks with us and inside us always.”

1936: Fishing is Episode 7 of an epic history cycle A Gay Century, covering gay life 1900 – 2001 in 17 off-beat operatic vignettes. It is the first to receive a full performance and intended to act as a ‘calling card’ for the rest.

Homo Promos has always defined itself as part of the LGBT+ Community, and composer Robert Ely was sacked by the British Army for being gay.

Homo Promos was formed in 1988 in the wake of the notorious Section 28 which forbade the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities. Since then, it has put on over 20 productions of new LGBT+ plays and musicals, shows of relevance to Queer lives and history. In the course of these, it has won the 2021 International Lesbian and Gay Cultural Network Award for its marathon series of Zoom performances during lockdown.

The premiere will be part of Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival 2022. https://www.tete-a-tete.org.uk/

Venues & Further Performances:

Sunday Sept 4th, 7pm (World Premiere)
The Cockpit, Gateforth Street, London NW8 8EH
Tickets: £15/£5 concessions
Buy tickets here: 1936: Fishing | The Cockpit
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Tuesday Sept 6th, 8pm [a concert performance]
St Anne’s, Soho, 55 Dean Street, W1D 6AF
Tickets: £15/£10 concessions inc. free glass of wine
Buy tickets here: 1936: Fishing – Episode 7 of ‘A Gay Century’ Tickets, Tue 6 Sep at 20:00 | Eventbrite
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Friday Sept 9th, 8.30pm
All Saints Hatcham Community Centre, 105 New Cross Road, SE14 5EJ
Tickets: £15/£10 concessions inc. free glass of wine
Buy tickets here: 1936: Fishing [Episode 7 of ‘A Gay Century’] Tickets, Fri 9 Sep at 20:30 | Eventbrite
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Saturday Sept 10th, 8.30pm
Tower Theatre, 16 Northwold Road, London N16 7HR
Tickets: £15/£10 concessions inc. free glass of wine
Buy tickets here: 1936: Fishing Episode 7 of ‘A Gay Century Tickets, Sat 10 Sep at 20:30 | Eventbrite