Russell T Davies and Pet Shop Boys are teaming up to adapt It’s A Sin for a dance production in Manchester.
Davies created the hit Channel 4 drama, which charted the lives of a group of gay men and their friends amid the HIV and AIDS crisis in the UK in the 1980s. Though set in London, it was primarily filmed in Manchester and the surrounding area.
The show was critically acclaimed – and the most nominated show at the BAFTAs in 2022 – as well as a hit with viewers, becoming the most binge-watched show to stream on Channel 4’s online streaming service. You can watch it online here.
And now Davies and Pet Shop Boys, along with production companies Rambert and Factory International, are to reimagine the drama as a theatrical performance set to premiere at Manchester’s Aviva Studios. It will combine contemporary dance and cinematic visuals with Luke Halls Studio designing the set and American singer Roman GianArthur composing the music. No dates have yet been announced.
“It’s A Sin was such a special show for me,” said Davies, who also created Queer As Folk, about the news. “It’s one of the greatest honours of my life to have the show transformed by Rambert into something new and exciting.
Meanwhile, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe of Pet Shop Boys said: “The original TV drama was a landmark series which compellingly presented the reality and tragedy of the Aids crisis to a mass audience.
The show was named after their 1987 hit ‘It’s A Sin’, and they said of the track: “Our song was contemporary with the crisis and we are proud to be involved as this poignant and important story is interpreted in a different medium.
The original series premiered on Channel 4 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.
In a glowing five-star review of the series, NME described it as a “queer masterpiece” and wrote: “By telling this story through the eyes of warm, flawed and sometimes frustrating characters you’ll care about, it offers a heartbreaking reminder of the countless lives claimed by HIV/AIDS.”