I, Spie: the imagined story of John Dowland and the Elizabethan espionage underworld

 

This spell-binding new “concert-play” by Clare Norburn follows renaissance composer and lutenist John Dowland as he combines his life as a court musician/composer with the Elizabethan espionage underworld. (Think Spooks, 16th Century style.) But ultimately, John's fate is in your hands as you'll vote on how the show should end.

Directed by BBC TV's Nicholas Renton (BAFTA-nominated Mrs Gaskell's Wives and Daughters)

"What is most impressive about Norburn’s conception is the way that the various strata and elements combine and cohere so effortlessly. Past and present, truth and fantasy, real and imagined come together in a tightly knit and intimate drama." Opera Today

Clare Norburn has become known for her innovative concert-plays, where music and theatre collide. In I, Spie, the story of John Dowland is accompanied by Elizabethan tavern, street & courtly music performed by Norburn's music group The Telling.

"Inclusive... non-pretentious... I really wish all 'classical' (for want of a better word) concerts were like this" Morning Star

Ahead of the show, you'll be invited to crack the all-important code as well as join a member of The Telling for an online percussion workshop so you can play along with a number or two during the show.

“mesmerising” The Guardian

Actors TBC

The Telling:
Clare Norburn, soprano
Emily Baines, recorders
Giles Lewin, fiddle/bagpipes
Alison Kinder, viols
Jamie Akers, lutenist

Directed by Nicholas Renton
Written & produced by Clare Norburn
Lighting Designer Natalie Rowland