350th ANNIVERSARY OF PLAGUE OUTBREAK PROMPTS DAVID RUDKIN WORLD PREMIERE IN EYAM PARISH CHURCH

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New Perspectives presents:

HERE WE STAY

By David Rudkin

A staged reading

Director: Jack McNamara

Saturday 18 July, Eyam Parish Church, Church Street, Eyam, Hope Valley S32 5QH, 7.30pm

East Midlands leading touring theatre company New Perspectives is delighted to present a world premiere staged reading of HERE WE STAY, the first of a series of Place Prints by David Rudkin, to be staged in Eyam Parish Church, to coincide with the 350th anniversary since the plague outbreak in the village.

Rooted in the East Midlands, HERE WE STAY is a dramatic new telling narrated in the voice of the plague herself. Leading actress Charlotte Cornwell takes the central role of Pestis, reunited with Rudkin for the first time after playing a central role in his 1976 play Sons of Light. The reading tells the story of the plague’s devastation as well as the efforts of Rector William Mompesson to quarantine the village. The performance is to be accompanied by live music from experimental violinist Angharad Davies.

The company has developed an unique relationship with Rudkin, whose notable past works include Afore Night Come, Sons of Light, Ashes and the hugely influential film Penda’s Fen. This staged reading follows New Perspectives’ critically acclaimed production of Rudkin’s The Lovesong of Alfred J Hitchcock, in a co-production with Leicester Curve, which toured regionally before transferring to off-Broadway, New York.

Described by the Observer as "Britain’s greatest living dramatic poet," David Rudkin has now created his epic Place Prints project – a series of new works which vary in length, each telling a story that haunts the location in question. The cycle marks a culmination of Rudkin’s fifty year dramatic exploration of place through his ground breaking work in theatre, film, television and radio. Over the next two years, New Perspectives aims to present a number of Rudkin’s Place Prints in their designed location in celebration of the writer’s 80th year.

Artistic Director Jack McNamara said:

"David is one of the true dramatic visionaries our country has produced. After more than 50 years of brilliant and radical writing, he has now given us perhaps his most beautiful and evocative work. The ten Place Prints, so far unseen, are a major addition to his canon. They are ten miniature masterpieces, each one beautiful, haunting and thrilling. I am honoured to be able to launch the series in the significant setting of Eyam Parish Church and excited to watch the rest of the works unfurl in unexpected places across the country over the year to come."

To book tickets for Here We Stay please call 0115 927 2334 or visit www.newperspectives.co.uk

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