Purcell, The Musical: Henry Purcell's past, present & fantasy collide!

Sun Apr 19 2026 at 07:30 pm to 09:20 pm UTC+01:00

All Saints Centre | Lewes

The Telling
Publisher/HostThe Telling
Purcell, The Musical: Henry Purcell's past, present & fantasy collide!
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Under pressure to finish a song, fever dreams transport composer Henry Purcell back in time. Plus his wife keeps bursting into his songs!
About this 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 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 transforms 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 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 Oliver John Ruthven on harpsichord.


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


Supported by a grant from Continuo Foundation and Angel Early Music.

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Event Venue & Nearby Stays

All Saints Centre, Friars Walk, Lewes, United Kingdom

Tickets

GBP 6.13 to GBP 24.54

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