New work will be choreographed and directed by Benoit Swan Pouffer, artistic director of Rambert, with Davies and Pet Shop Boys serving as executive producers
It’s a Sin, the award-winning TV series about friendship during the 1980s Aids crisis, is to be adapted for the stage as a dance show. The new production is being developed by Rambert who had a hit in 2022 with its prequel to the TV series Peaky Blinders.
The creator of It’s a Sin, Russell T Davies, is executive producer on the new work which will be choreographed and directed by Benoit Swan Pouffer, Rambert’s artistic director. “Storytelling sits at the heart of Rambert’s mission,” said Pouffer on Thursday. “Collaborating with Russell – one of the most powerful storytellers of our time – is incredibly exciting. Together we’re exploring how dance and choreography can carry urgent, emotional narratives in a visceral way.”
Pet Shop Boys, whose 1987 single gave the TV series its title, are also serving as executive producers on the show. They said the series “compellingly presented the reality and tragedy of the Aids crisis to a mass audience” and that they were “proud to be involved as this poignant and important story is interpreted in a different medium”. The pop duo’s regular collaborators, Luke Halls Studio, will provide set and video design for a production that will blend archive material with contemporary dance. The music will be composed by Roman GianArthur, part of Janelle Monáe’s Wondaland Arts Society collective, and will evoke “the glamour, defiance and emotional intensity of 1980s queer life” according to a press statement.
