Southwark Playhouse will host the European premiere of Harvey Fierstein’s cross-dressing-inspired tale Casa Valentina this autumn.
The production, which reunites In The Heights’ producer/director team Paul Taylor-Mills and Luke Sheppard, will play at the venue from 10 September (press night 16 September) to 10 October.
Set in New York’s picturesque Catskills mountains in 1962, Casa Valentina follows a group of heterosexual men as they escape from the city to spend their weekend dressed as women. Having left their families, friends and jobs behind them to safely inhabit their female alter egos, they are then given a choice to share their secret lives with the world…
The insightful play, which is based on real-life events, opens in London following its premiere at New York’s Samuel J Friedman Theatre in 2014 when it was directed by Wicked’s Joe Mantello and received a quartet of Tony Award nominations.
Prior to its forthcoming move to London, Fierstein said: “Is there anything more dangerous than attempting to live an authentic life? Researching Casa Valentina I found that, were truth told, for the most everyday of us there is no normal.
“We are each complete individuals with our own specific ways in which we negotiate the world. Most of us disguise our individuality within gender, societal and religious role models. But those who dare to live their truth out in the light of day become the Christopher Columbuses of humanity.”
News of Casa Valentina’s UK premiere comes as another of Fierstein’s high-heeled hits prepares to open in the West End. Kinky Boots, which features a book by the Tony Award-winning actor and playwright, will bring its tale of a Northampton show factory to the Adelphi Theatre from 21 August.