First Heard: The Last Play

Doors 7.00pm, dramatic reading 7.30pm.

First Heard is a regular play reading event featuring new works by local playwrights, performed by professional actors.

At the end of every play there is an honest Q&A with the writer and all money raised from ticket sales goes towards the actors’ time. All tickets £5.

After a gap caused by Covid and life, First Heard returns with a new play by award-winning writer John Knowles 'Bottom's Tale - The Last Play', which explores two of John's abiding loves: Shakespeare and Lindsey Kemp.

At first they may seem odd bedfellows, but it all makes sense when you know that the writer first encountered A Midsummer Night's Dream through Kemp's highly eroticised and camp performance at Sadler's Wells in the early '80s. The play explores the fine line between muse and madness, a line all creatives cross if they have any real originality.

In this 'The Last Play' John takes his love of language, music and movement and along the way plays a subtle homage to Richard Dadd (the Victorian faerie painter who murdered his own father and ended up in Beldam).

Emily Carding, an award-winning actor will be reading this one-woman show and bringing to the role a wealth of knowledge about faeries and magic, having written and published works on both subjects. As usual, the reading will be followed by audience feedback.

If you are a playwright or actor looking to get involved with First Heard, contact John on 07813 035514.

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