Starring Melanie-Joyce Bermudez as Mona
Musicals writing duo Kit Buchan and Jim Barne, the team behind the acclaimed show Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York), have written a new musical titled Mona Loser.
Mona Loser is a new contemporary musical set in the music industry, about viral fame, fakery and identity, drawing inspiration from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the modern monsters created both on and offline.
The new musical is set to have a series of four workshop performances next month at Southwark Playhouse Borough in London, from 16 to 19 July 2025.
Directed by Tim Jackson, the workshops will offer audiences a first glimpse at this new work-in-development show.
The cast of the workshop will feature Melanie-Joyce Bermudez (Love’s Labours Lost, RSC; King Lear, Wyndham’s Theatre) as Mona, with further casting to be announced.
Video: ‘Dead or Alive’ from Mona Loser
Watch Melanie-Joyce Bermudez sing ‘Dead or Alive’ from the show.
Produced by Tim Johanson Productions with the Birmingham Hippodrome, the show is supported by Birmingham Hippodrome’s New Musical Theatre Department, a department dedicated to championing original British musical theatre.
Writers Kit Buchan and Jim Barne said in a statement: “We’re delighted to be premiering Mona Loser in this special workshop production. It’s a show about the pop industry, personas, and the stories we spin – and we can’t wait to see how it connects with a live audience.”
Director Tim Jackson said: “I am thrilled to be directing the first-ever workshop presentation of Mona Loser. This work-in-progress sharing is a rare opportunity to experience a brand-new musical in its earliest form – alive, raw, and evolving. Kit and Jim have been busy creating something very special, full of their trademark wit, heart, and flair, and I’m delighted to be back working with them.”
Mona Loser is playing at Southwark Playhouse Borough in London from 16 to 19 July 2025.
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