Purcell: The Musical

Following the success of ‘Into the Melting Pot’ we are delighted to welcome The Telling back to the East Riding Theatre as they present 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).

The play takes us back to 1695 when, in his final illness, 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.

“… the way the drama allowed a remarkable cross section of Purcell’s music to be performed was quite striking.” Planet Hugill

thetelling.co.uk/purcell-the-musical