Last week, innovative touring company Pop Up Opera performed Bellini’s Romeo and Juliet for 184 people at the Royal Free Hospital’s Peter Samuel Hall in aid of cancer charities Cancerkin and Maggie’s who joined forces in January this year. The event raised enough money to pay for the services of a lymphoedema specialist therapist for 31 days.

Laura Lee, CEO of Maggie’s, attended the event together with Victoria Todd, chief executive of Cancerkin, who said: “All the singing was of extraordinary power and beauty; the piano playing brilliant and the direction, with limited props, created that total engagement of all the senses which makes opera the supreme art form.”

An audience member commented, “This was the first opera I have ever seen. What an amazing introduction to a stunning art form. I shall continue my opera education by following Pop-up Opera to whatever venue they go to.”

Lymphoedema is a painful and commonly overlooked side effect of breast cancer surgery and radiation therapy that can appear in some people during the months or even years after treatment ends.

ENDS

Notes to editors

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About the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

The Royal Free began as a pioneering organisation and continues to play a leading role in the care of patients. Our mission is to provide world class expertise and local care. In the 21st century, the Royal Free London continues to lead improvements in healthcare.

The Royal Free London attracts patients from across the country and beyond to its specialist services in liver and kidney transplantation, haemophilia, renal care, HIV, infectious diseases, plastic surgery, immunology, Parkinson's disease, vascular surgery, cardiology, amyloidosis and scleroderma and we are a member of the academic health science partnership UCLPartners.

In July 2014 Barnet Hospital and Chase Farm Hospital became part of the Royal Free London. Read 'A bigger trust, a better future'.