About the show
On your starting blocks! Get set for a show about health, sports, a reforming doctor, and a runaway chicken.
In 1850, the Shropshire market town of Much Wenlock hosted its very own 'Olympian Games', which was to become an inspiration for the modern Games. Behind this seemingly mild-mannered event, where country sports combined with spelling and knitting races, lay a modern day struggle for equality and the right to health, set during the changing world of the Industrial Revolution.
In a captivatingly comic production that celebrates the Games' unlikely UK roots, Much Ado About Wenlock reveals a local doctor's determination to improve the health of all the townsfolk, rich or poor. Will Dr William Penny Brookes inspire the working men to swap their tipple for triple jumping? Will Beatty the schoolmistress win over the cynical Reverend Benedict? Will little Eddie Sankey triumph over the bullying butcher's boy, Archibald Blockley? And will our national love of the underdog be satisfied in this heroic piece of theatre?
A glorious full mask show, with original music, puppetry, physicality, and choreography, Much Ado About Wenlock is a hugely inventive adventure for all.
Accessible to deaf and hearing audiences alike.
Funders: Arts Council England, Worcestershire County Council.
Production details
CAST
Chris Gunter: Mr Sankey, Archibald, Rev. Benedict, Mrs Doolittle
Honor Hoskins: Mrs Sankey, Dr Brookes, Butcher, Adeline, Miss Beatty
Tigger Blaize: Eddie, Barmaid, Butcher's wife, PC Dogberry
PRODUCTION TEAM
Writer & Director: Rachael Savage
Composer: Janie Armour
Movement Director: Neil Bettles
Designer: Rob Dicks
Mask Maker: Russell Dean
Clown Consultant: Cal McCrystal
OTHER INFO
RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes plus interval
FUNDERS: Arts Council England, Worcestershire County Council
IN ASSOCIATION WITH: Cheltenham Everyman
SUITABILITY: Over 8 years