Russell T Davies acclaimed series It’s a Sin takes its name from a famous song by Pet Shop Boys, now they are teaming up to turn the story into a new dance work.
Davies series chronicled the lives of a group of young gay people living in London at the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic. Now production companies Rambert and Factory International have announced that the story will be turned into an immersive theatrical experience.
“It’s A Sin was such a special show for me,” said Davies. who also created Queer as Folk, Cucumber and Banana.
“It’s one of the greatest honours of my life to have the show transformed by Rambert into something new and exciting.”
The series premiered in January 2021, and it starred Olly Alexander, Omari Douglas, Callum Scott Howells, Nathaniel Curtis, and Lydia West as the main group of friends. Other actors involved included David Carlyle, Shaun Dooley, Keeley Hawes, Neil Patrick Harris and Stephen Fry.
Pet Shop Boys members Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe said the original series shared an important story.
“The original TV drama was a landmark series which compellingly presented the reality and tragedy of the Aids crisis to a mass audience.”
The musicians will work closely with American singer Roman GianArthur, who will compose the music for the show. It will be choreographed and directed by Rambert’s artistic director Benoit Swan Pouffer, who will also co-write the script with Kaite O’Reilly.
If any music from the Pet Shop Boys will be included, beyond the song the shows lifts its name from, is unclear.
Over their career Pet Shop Boys have made music for theatrical productions including the play My Beautiful Laundrette, and the ballet The Most Incredible Thing. They also wrote the musical Closer to Heaven with playwright Jonathon Harvey, and the cabaret show Musik. In 2005 they created a new score for the 1925 silent film Battleship Potemkin.
