CHECK OUT THE CONCERTS CONTINUO IS SUPPORTING ON CONTINUO CONNECT

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

We seek a grant towards the fees for 3 instrumentalists (Joanna Lawrence, violin, Oliver-John Ruthven, harpsichord & we will audition for a young cellist) to participate in a 12-date tour of Clare Norburn’s acclaimed Henry Purcell music & theatre show: Purcell, The Musical.

Other performers: extraordinary actor & comedy improvisor Niall Ashdown (Whose Line is It Anyway?, The Globe, Comedy Store) will play Purcell alongside exceptional soprano, Héloïse Bernard who will play Purcell’s star singer Letitia Cross. A singer who acts will play Purcell’s wife (TBC).

The show is based on a pilot of a simpler version which Clare was commissioned to write in 2018, but will be reworked into The Telling’s hallmark dramatic concertplay structure, directed by BAFTA-nominated director Nicholas Renton with stunning lighting design by Natalie Rowland.

Although more limited in design, the pilot received 4-star reviews:
“deserves greater exposure…” The Times

In his final illness, Purcell is suffering from feverish dream-like hallucinations in which his bedroom is transformed into a theatre. Purcell looks back on his life including childhood memories of the Great Fire, soundtracked by his instrumental interludes & songs for the stage including two ‘mad songs’.

Excitingly the show provides a new context for Purcell’s theatre songs to be heard in a fully theatrical setting: not something that ever happens today because most plays are never staged. It brings Purcell’s songs to life and makes them more accessible to a wider audience.

As well as the closing concert in the Beverley Early Music Festival, we will build on successes in transforming access to early music, helping to fill in gaps on the ContinuoConnect map throughout own touring circuit & following in places which never/rarely access early music: Wolverhampton, Liverpool, Cardiff, Glasgow & first performance in Edinburgh where we are building a base ahead of plans to tour Scotland more widely from 2026. Plus a 4-date run at OSO, Barnes, a theatre which doesn’t programme early music, capitalising on our strong local following & where we have sold 888 tickets for our last 3 shows, Nov24, Jan25 & May25.

This project has potential to reach new audiences, taking early music “off the page” & widening awareness of Continuo Connect. Our distinctive approach has proved to reach far beyond standard early music audiences:
“Husband, who isn’t into early music, loved it”
“I had never enjoyed music earlier than 1600 but last night The Telling changed all that”
“so different to a normal concert”

Most of the performances are self-promotions, enabling us to take control & visit places which wouldn’t programme early music, but we also take on the financial risk. The project requires considerably more rehearsal time & unusual production support: director/lighting. We will receive a guaranteed fee for Beverley, 60% ticket income from OSO & 70% from Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton. None will come close to covering full costs.