The Yard Theatre has today announced an encore run of its acclaimed production, The Flea, from 7 October (press night 22 October), in response to audience demand. This return promises a tweaked and sharpened version of the original sensation. For the first time, the venue offers priority booking opening today, with public booking from 8 July. More information can be found here
The Flea, which received its world premiere in 2023 and broke box office records for a new play at The Yard, daringly retells the 1889 Cleveland Street Scandal, which linked a gay brothel to the British monarchy. The production brings together historical intrigue with contemporary queer aesthetics, thrilling critics and audiences alike in 2023.
Directed by The Yard’s founder & Artistic Director Jay Miller (winner of the Off-West End Award for ‘Best Director’ for The Flea, ★★★★★ The Crucible, ★★★★★ This Beautiful Future), and written by James Fritz (★★★★ Ross & Rachel, ★★★★ Parliament Square), The Flea explores class divides, corruption and cover-ups, speaking as much to today’s world as that of Victorian Britain.
Just four years after the Labouchere Amendment, which made “gross indecency” between men illegal, and ultimately caught up with Oscar Wilde, the Cleveland Street Scandal tore through the fabric of Victorian society, when a raid on a male brothel in Fitzrovia exposed a hidden world of aristocratic clientele and working-class rent boys.
Rumours spread of a government cover-up protecting the names of high-profile patrons rumoured to be amongst the customers, including Prince Albert Victor, Queen Victoria’s grandson and the second-in-line to the British throne. When Lord Arthur Somerset, horse-keeper to the Prince of Wales, was identified as a visitor of the brothel, both he and brothel manager Charles Hammond fled abroad, evading justice.
While the upper-class patrons avoided jail time, the working-class boys who worked in the brothel, many doubling as telegraph boys for the General Post Office, faced the full force of Victorian justice. Lacking wealth or powerful connections, they couldn’t shield themselves from public humiliation, press vitriol, and harsh prison sentences.
The Flea shattered audience records for a new play at The Yard. Acclaimed for its punky, hilarious and sexy take on this chapter of history, the production scooped two Off West End Awards for direction and design. This reimagining of a scandalous chapter in LGBTQ+ and British history now returns, offering audiences a chance to experience the production before The Yard’s capital redevelopment in 2025.
Plus for the first time, the theatre introduces priority booking for members of its new Yard Card scheme and previous The Flea attendees, some of whom saw The Flea up to five times, a testament to its appeal. This exclusive access underscores The Yard’s commitment to nurturing a dedicated community of theatre-goers hungry for bold, boundary-pushing work.
Jay Miller said, “We’re thrilled to bring The Flea back for an extra bite. It’s a hilarious, infuriating reminder that while fashions change, the power structures that we’ve created remain. In 2023 our audiences saw themselves in this funhouse mirror of British pomp and prejudice. So we’re serving up this scandal again – tweaked, sharpened, and even more revealing. Same glorious depiction of a Britain forever torn between deference and defiance, just now with sharper edges.”
