Purcell, The Musical - Glasgow

★★★★

“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 experiencing 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 Purcell's compositions: 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-singers Sarah Lambie and Héloïse Bernard, Jo Lawrence on violin, Miriam Nohl on cello and Jan Waterfield on harpsichord.

Doors open 7pm. Each half will be approx 40-45mins with an interval.

Supported by a grant from Continuo Foundation, Boris Karloff Charitable Foundation, The Cockaigne Fund at Foundation Scotland, The Pear Tree Fund for Music, The Stafford Trust, The Hugh Fraser Foundation and James T Howat Charitable Trust