Mid Wales Opera are returning to the Torch Theatre on Saturday 26 March as part of their spring tour with Puccini’s La bohème; a timeless tale of love, loss and longing featuring some of opera’s best-known arias.

It’s Christmas Eve and high above the streets of Paris a knock at the door begins the timeless love story of poet Rodolfo and his neighbour Mimi. Their fairy-tale romance feels like a Christmas miracle, but even the warmth of their love can’t defeat the winter chill. Mimi is desperately ill; Rodolfo and his fellow bohemians can’t afford the help she needs. From a student garret to the bustling streets of Montmartre, Puccini’s masterpiece celebrates the power of love and friendship.

The opera perfectly captures the gritty atmosphere of 1840’s Paris. Through the intertwined stories of its four main characters (a poet, a seamstress, a painter and a musician), it captures the passion and profligacy of the young bohemians. And like the exchange of love letters, most decisions about the opera where made (slowly!) through letters sent back and forth between Puccini and his publisher, Ricordi, and librettists Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.

La bohème concludes MWO’s Puccini in Paris season, delayed for a year by Covid-related theatre closures. Their SmallStages tour in autumn 2021 was Puccini’s Il tabarro – the first of the three Il trittico (‘The Triptych’) operas. Henri Murger’s 1851 series of vignettes provided the basis for the La bohème libretto. Scènes de la vie de bohème portrayed the lives of young bohemians living in the Latin Quarter of Paris.

The young bohemians in MWO’s production are depicted by a stellar cast and wealth of Welsh talent. The role of Rodolfo is sung by Welsh Tenor, Robyn Lyn Evans, who was raised in Pont-rhyd-y-groes, Ceredigion, but now lives in Machynlleth. He is delighted to be reprising one of his favourite roles, which he has sung previously for both Opera Project and Longborough Festival Opera.

La bohème is at the Torch Theatre, Milford Haven, on Saturday 26 March at 7pm. Tickets are £22.50, £20.50 concessions and £9 for under 26 years. Tickets can be booked by calling the Torch Theatre’s Box Office on 01646 695267 or clicking here   

 This show is part of the National Lottery’s & UK Theatre’s Love Your Local Theatre campaign, where during the months of March and April when you buy a ticket for a participating show you get another free ticket courtesy of the National Lottery. For more information click here