Name: Practically Imperfect: writer PL Travers is visited by her creation, Mary Poppins
Start: 2026-02-05T19:30:00+00:00
End: 2026-02-05T21:30:00+00:00
Location: Arena Theatre

Practically Imperfect: writer PL Travers is visited by her creation, Mary Poppins

“finds new terrain” - The Guardian on The Telling
The very private PL Travers lives quietly in Chelsea. Out of the blue, her very own creation, Mary Poppins, suddenly appears in Travers’ study, asking difficult questions she would rather not answer. Rather than the Banks family, Mary Poppins has come to sort out the acerbic writer herself. But Travers is a force to be reckoned with too. So who will control the narrative and win the battle of wills?
The fun-filled chaos is soundtracked by Mary Poppins who performs the kind of music PL Travers REALLY wanted in the Mary Poppins film (Edwardian songs such as Lily of Laguna).
A collaboration project between The Telling and Blue Fire Theatre Company. A brand new play with music by award-winning writer Clare Norburn, directed by BAFTA-nominated BBC director, Nicholas Renton (Mrs Gaskell’s Wives and Daughters, Musketeers, Lewis). Starring acclaimed actor Lottie Walker as PL Travers and actor-musician Joanna Brown as Mary Poppins.
Each half will be approx 40-45mins with an interval.