Touching the Void (book) stage by David Greig and that the play would receive its world premiere the following year and would begin previews at the Bristol Old Vic on 8 September 2018, with an official opening night on 18 September, booking for a limited period until 6 October. Touching the Void (book) Touching the Void is a 1988 book by Joe Simpson, recounting his and Simon Yates' successful but disastrous and nearly fatal climb of the 6,344-metre (20,813 foot) Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985. It has sold over a million copies and has been translated into over 20 languages. In
The Mountaineers (opera) had a new work ready. Somerville is credited with the conception of "The Mountaineers". He was travelling in a train through the Rhine Valley when the idea came to him: "I had been glancing idly at a guide book, but the opening lines of a quaint legendary tale relating to some little village in the mountains suddenly held my interest, and when I had read it through I realised that here was the ideal story for an opera. Only the climax would have to be altered, for the story ended on a tragic note." Somerville showed "The Mountaineers" to Workman,