A folk-rock musical, which began as a 40-minute production in Leeds in 2024, has since grown into a full-length show and will make its London debut this month.
Ida Wrona headshot. Photo credit: VRC Studios
Basilitrix, inspired by the Warsaw legend of the Basilisk, was written and composed by MA Musical Theatre Company graduate Ida Wrona. The show will run from 11 to 15 November at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, as part of Voila! Theatre Festival.
The cast for the London production includes Ida’s former coursemate André Buhagiar. In addition, BA Popular Music graduate Rozie Bristow on bass and Tariq Megrisi, who studied BA Jazz, on drums.
Ida chose Leeds Conservatoire’s MA Musical Theatre Company course as it gave her the opportunity to develop as both a performer and a theatre-maker. She arrived at the conservatoire with plans to turn a concept album she had created in Poland into an English language stage musical.
She said: “I knew from the beginning that I wanted the band to be an integral part of the show’s world and visible on stage. Leeds Conservatoire’s strong popular music tradition was one of the reasons I chose to study there.”
Ida Wrona as Basilitrix and Yiyi Fan as Ratmother in 2024. Photo credit: Piotr Galar
That idea remains central to Basilitrix today. The musicians are part of the world of the show, joining its rat narrators as members of The Rat Squad, complete with their own rat alter-egos.
When MA students were invited to pitch ideas for scratch performances at the 2024 edition of Leeds Theatre Festival, Ida put forward Basilitrix. Ida laughs that she produced a full 40-minute musical, rather than a short work-in-progress, due to not understanding what a scratch performance was.
She brought together a 13-person, cross-disciplinary team of students, alongside Katya Bonk, then studying at Leeds Arts University, who created the show’s artwork.
Ida explained: “I don’t think the tutors expected anyone to interpret a scratch night quite like that, but after the initial surprise, they really got behind us.”
The team was given access to the conservatoire’s state-of-the-art auditorium, The Venue, along with promotional support, and the first production of Basilitrix played to an audience of around one hundred people.
Two years later, Ida submitted the newly developed Basilitrix to Voila! Theatre Festival in London, now a full-length, 90-minute musical, with an expanded score, a new cast, and an international creative team.
When assembling the company for the London run, Ida was keen to reconnect with members of the original Leeds team.
Rozie said: “I love working in musical theatre, especially with fantasy and mythical elements. I am so excited to be part of the show again and tell this story to a brand-new audience.”
Tariq added: “I really enjoyed performing the show in 2024. Both the creative content and genuine passion for the project was inspiring, and I had to take the opportunity to be a part of it again. People will love the show; London is only just the start!”
André, who has been connected with Basilitrix since its early development, said: “To have the chance to see this seed that began sprouting during my time at Leeds Conservatoire continue to blossom is incredibly beautiful to me. The chance to also be a part of it and help craft Ida’s vision of a story so close to her heart is an honour. I will always be grateful that our time at Leeds Conservatoire brought us together and led us here.”
For Ida, having members of the original team return makes the London premiere even more significant: “It’s very special to know that, two years later, they still want to be part of Basilitrix’s next chapter.”
