To Die For [A Comedy] production photos released

Production images of To Die For [a Comedy] – Elena Langer’s darkly comic opera – have been released ahead of its UK premiere at the London Coliseum on 29 November 2026.

See newly-released production photos of To Die For [A Comedy] ahead of the comic opera’s UK premiere at the London Coliseum on 29 November 2026. The photos were taken of the show during its run at Nederlandse Reisopera earlier in 2026 during its Dutch national tour.

The images reveal the exuberant farce, theatrical ambition and subversive humour at the heart of this satirical exploration of celebrity culture and fame. The opera is based on Nikolai Erdman’s provocative 1928 play The Suicide, which was banned before its premiere and again a hundred years later when Langer’s opera was cancelled following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and has been updated to 1990s post-Soviet Russia.

View live availability for To Die For [a Comedy] here

Production photos released for To Die For [a Comedy]

To die for, a comedy. Persfotografie: Marco Borggreve TEAM Componist: Elena Langer Dirigent Adrian Kelly Regie Sam Brown Decor- en kostuumontwerp Grace Smart Lichtontwerp Linus Fellbom Bewegingsregisseur Jochem Stavenuiter CAST Semyon Podsekayev Paul Curievici Maria Jenny Stafford Serafima Ilinichna Maria Riccarda Wesseling Kalabushkin – Richard Burkhard Ivan Vane James Hall Barbie Jane Burnell Kukoleva Idunnu Münch Diana Myrna Tennant Pugachov Mark Omvlee Hilarion Matthew Anchel Yefim MItch Raemaekers Paramon Joris van Baar Petrovna Amy J. Payne Angelika Oliva Le Roux Veronika Fee Suzanne de Ruiter Margot Sabra Bahri Khatri Tamara Aina Miyagi Magnell Koor Consensus Vocalis Innocent Jante Inonge Stekelenburg Begeleiding door Orkest Phion

To die for, a comedy.\r\rPersfotografie: Marco Borggreve\r\rTEAM \rComponist: Elena Langer\nDirigent Adrian Kelly \nRegie Sam Brown \nDecor- en kostuumontwerp Grace Smart \nLichtontwerp Linus Fellbom\nBewegingsregisseur Jochem Stavenuiter\n \nCAST \nSemyon Podsekayev Paul Curievici \nMaria Jenny Stafford \nSerafima Ilinichna Maria Riccarda Wesseling \nKalabushkin – Richard Burkhard \nIvan Vane James Hall \nBarbie Jane Burnell \nKukoleva Idunnu Münch\nDiana Myrna Tennant \nPugachov Mark Omvlee \nHilarion Matthew Anchel\nYefim MItch Raemaekers \nParamon Joris van Baar \nPetrovna Amy J. Payne\nAngelika Oliva Le Roux\nVeronika Fee Suzanne de Ruiter \nMargot Sabra Bahri Khatri \nTamara Aina Miyagi Magnell \nKoor Consensus Vocalis\nInnocent Jante Inonge Stekelenburg \n \nBegeleiding door Orkest Phion\n

Elena Langer and the opera’s creative team

To Die For [A Comedy] is composed by Elena Langer, who was born in Russia and trained at the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow and the Royal Academy of Music in London, Langer. She was the Almeida Theatre’s first composer in residence, and her previous operas, including Figaro Gets a Divorce, Rhondda Rips It Up!, Ariadne and The Lion’s Face, have been performed internationally.

Sam Brown, Artistic Director of Nederlandse Reisopera since 2024, is the opera’s director. Brown has directed more than 30 opera productions across Europe, including Parsifal at Opera North.

The show’s conductor Adrian Kelly, meanwhile, is making his London Coliseum debut, bringing extensive experience from the Hamburg State Opera and Salzburg State Theatre.

What is the opera about?

To Die For [A Comedy] , which also features a libretto by Arkady Zastyrets, is set in a grimy communal flat before moving into the superficial world of reality TV. It centres on the suicide of Semyon Podsekayev, scheduled to be broadcast live on a vulgar variety show.

Through a vivid score blending 21st-century opera, cabaret, folk and music-theatre influences, Langer brings extraordinary scale, musical colour and subversive humour to this darkly comic story.

The opera tackles themes that resonate powerfully today, such as the exploitation of human suffering for entertainment, the materialism of contemporary culture, and society’s obsession with fame at any cost. Yet beneath its dark comedy lies a hopeful message, that despite life’s chaos and cruelty, it remains worth living.

Book tickets for To Die For [a Comedy] here