Pub opera anyone?

To the Soho Theatre this week to see a cracking new version of La Boheme. I'm not a huge fan of opera, though I used to go and see the more theatrical productions at ENO in the Eighties. I don't really know enough to appreciate the music but, more crucially, I find the psychology of the characters and plotlines simplistic in comparison with theatre. Take Puccini's La Boheme: in just five minutes, Rodolfo and the tubercular Mimi are swearing undying love. Bit OTT, really, but I guess that's opera for you.

All praise to OperaUpClose, then, whose modern-day, Soho-set version, with four casts of young (now there's a refreshing change for opera) classically trained singers, has been playing at the unlikely venue of the Cock Tavern Theatre in Kilburn, for a record-breaking 6 months before transferring to Soho Theatre, a venue with lively programming and reasonably priced tickets right in the West End.

Robin-Norton-Hale's captivating production - in which the second act café scene takes place down in the theatre bar, with cast and chorus mingling with the punters - is a complete delight. Definitely one for anyone who wants to give opera a whirl.