JEEZUS! Returns to New Diorama Theatre for London Premiere This Spring

The wait for the second coming is over! JEEZUS! is back. Following a smash hit sold out run at last year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe, this irreverent and high-octane comedy musical that collides Catholic guilt with Latin heat, has announced the premiere of a new fully-realised, scaled up production.

Winner of the prestigious UNTAPPED Award (2025) and co-produced by migrant-led company Alpaqa and New Diorama Theatre, JEEZUS! returns to London for a triumphant three-week run of this surreal musical fantasia from 21 April until 9 May. Press Night at New Diorama Theatre on 24 April, 7.30pm.

Set in 1990's Peru, a brutal military coup ushers in a decade of dictatorship under the rule of Alberto Fujimori. In the home of General José and his devoted wife María, altar boy Jesús prepares diligently for his first communion. But as the biggest day of his adolescent life approaches, the hot man on the cross makes him feel something… unholy.

The production which tackles themes of colonialism, sexuality and sin is written and performed by Sergio Antonio Maggiolo as Jesús alongside collaborator and partner Guido Garcia Lueches who between them perform a multitude of characters on this unrepentantly queer journey to ultimate enlightenment. Directed by Laura Killeen, featuring an original blend of music from anthemic Latin pop bangers, Salsa, South American folk tunes (Cumbia) to Bad Bunny-like beats played live on stage by Tom Cagnoni accompanying on live instruments.

Sergio Antonio Maggiolo whose upbringing inspired the musical says: “This show is not here to mock religion. It's here to wrestle with it. With all its contradictions, ecstasies, hypocrisies and power. I grew up in a part of South America where religion was more than dogma. It was a pillar of identity. A language for love, for family, for community. But like many queer people, I learned early that love came with conditions. That faith could be a door—or a wall.

“At its heart, JEEZUS! is about the stories we inherit, the bodies we live in, and The Miracles we make for ourselves. Absurd, joyful, and brutal this show is a love letter; to queerness, to myth, to the kids who thought they were going to hell.”

Emma Clark, New Diorama's Head of Programme adds: “After a phenomenal journey through last year's Untapped Award, we can't wait to bring JEEZUS! home to London audiences with the production it's always deserved. Sexy, ferocious, and hilarious, uncompromising in its intelligence and politics — Alpaqa are putting Latinx and migrant stories at the forefront, where they belong.”

CAST

• Sergio Antonio Maggiolo
• Guido Garcia Lueches

CREATIVES

• Music and Lyrics: Sergio Antonio Maggiolo & Guido Garcia Lueches
• Book: Sergio Antonio Maggiolo
• Director & Co Creator: Laura Killeen
• Musical Director & Orchestrations: Tom Cagnoni
• Production Designer: Carolina Rieckhof
• Choreographer: Vivian Gabel
• Dramaturg: Alejandro Clavier
• Stage Manager: Rob Atkinson
• Producers: Guido Garcia Lueches & Sergio Antonio Maggiolo
• Concept Photoshoot: Héctor Manchego
• Poster Design: Madison Coby
• Further creatives to be announced

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