Staging Freddie

Staging Freddie is at the V&A South Kensington on Friday 23 October, a talk that opens the museum's Freddie Mercury | Splendid Things display. The display itself opens the following day, 24 October, and runs until 17 January 2027, so this is the first chance to hear the people who worked on it talk through what they've put together.

The talk brings together fashion and textile designer Wendy de Smet and costume designer Diana Moseley. They'll be talking about the costumes, the staging and the design that went into Freddie Mercury's stage presence, and the work that went into building the display. It's a look at the visual side of his career rather than the music, the clothes and the sets that sat behind him on stage.

The display marks Mercury's 80th birthday — he would have turned 80 on 5 September 2026 — and gathers eight stage looks from across his career, from music videos to live performances, presented as a free trail throughout the museum. It takes its title from a quote Mercury gave in 1978: 'I like to be surrounded by splendid things. I want to lead a Victorian life surrounded by exquisite clutter.'

The talk runs from 18:30 to 19:30 in the Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre at the V&A, Cromwell Road, SW7 2RL. Tickets are £15 to £20 and are sold out, but there's a Zoom livestream for £8, which is recorded and available on demand for three months.