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Purcell, The Musical

Add to my Calendar 18-04-2026 19:30 18-04-2026 21:30 36 Purcell, The Musical 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 Oliver John Ruthven on harpsichord. Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton DD/MM/YYYY

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Wulfruna St
Wolverhampton
WV1 1SE
England

Tickets

Prices: £20 / £16

Programme

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Performers

Programme Note

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 Oliver John Ruthven on harpsichord.

Purcell, The Musical

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