Sun 26 Apr
|Assembly Roxy
Purcell, The Musical - Edinburgh
Under pressure to finish a song, a series of surreal experiences transports composer Henry Purcell back in time. Plus his wife keeps bursting into his songs.
Time & Location
26 Apr 2026, 19:30 – 21:20
Assembly Roxy, 2 Roxburgh Pl, Edinburgh EH8 9SU, UK
About the event
★★★★
“this is one show that deserves greater exposure…”
The Times
★★★★
“… the way the drama allowed a remarkable cross section of Purcell’s music to be performed was quite striking.”
Planet Hugill
A play with music by award-winning writer Clare Norburn and BAFTA-nominated BBC director, Nicholas Renton (Mrs Gaskell’s Wives and Daughters, Musketeers, Lewis).
1695: in his final illness, composer Henry Purcell (Niall Ashdown) is suffering from feverish dream-like hallucinations in which the past, present and fantasy collide, and his songs take on a life of their own. His bedroom is transformed into a theatre and Purcell revisits his past including his childhood memories of the Great Fire of London and his early romance with his wife.
Interwoven into the drama are assorted instrumental and vocal compositions by Purcell: from bawdy theatre ballads and joyful celebrations of love, to slow airs, a ‘mad song’, and numbers from his semi-operas.
Niall Ashdown (Creating Carmen, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, The Comedy Store Players) stars as Purcell alongside actor-musician Héloïse Bernard, Jo Lawrence on violin, Jan Waterfield on harpsichord and two other TBC artists.
Each half will be approx 40-45mins with an interval.
Supported by a grant from Continuo Foundation, The Cockaigne Fund at Foundation Scotland, The Pear Tree Fund for Music, The Stafford Trust and James T Howat Charitable Trust.