“BESS – THE COMMONER QUEEN”
NATIONAL TOUR MARCH – JUNE 2019
BUXTON: The Pavillion Arts Centre SK17 6AZ – Saturday 2 March 7.30pm
Tickets: £15 Discounts are available. Box Office: 01298 72190 www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk
NOTTINGHAM: Djanogly Theatre Lakeside Arts Centre NG7 2RD – Mon 11 March 7.30pm & Tues 12 March 1pm
Tickets: £16 (£14 concs, £12 restricted view) Box Office: 0115 846 7777 lakesidearts.org.uk
LINCOLN: Drill Hall LN2 1EY – Thurs 14th March 7.30pm
Pay What You Decide Event Box Office: 01522 873894 www.lincolndrillhall.com
MANSFIELD: Old Library Theatre NG18 1NG - Thursday 21 March 7.30pm & Friday 22 March 2pm
Tickets FREE to book, pay what you can on the night. Book online at www.inspireculture.org.uk/theatre
SALFORD: The Lowry Aldridge Studio M50 3AZ – Sat 23 March 8pm
Tickets: £12 Concessions £2 off. Box Office: 0843 208 6010 Group Bookings: 0843 208 6003
www.thelowry.com/drama
PETERBOROUGH: Key Theatre Studio PE1 1EF – Thurs 11th April 7.45pm & Friday 12th April 2.30pm
Tickets: £12.50 (£10 KTC & KYT members) Box Office: 01733 207239 key.theatre@vivacity.org
WAKEFIELD: Theatre Royal Walker Studio WF1 2TE – Tues 23rd April 7.45pm
Tickets: £12 (concs available). Box Office: 01924 211 311 www.theatreroyalwakefield.co.uk
STAFFORD: Gatehouse Theatre Met Studio ST16 2LT – Friday 26th April 8pm
Tickets: £13.50 Box Office: 01785 619080 gatehouse@freedom-leisure.co.uk
KING’S LYNN: St Nicholas Chapel PE30 1NH – Sun 28th April 7.30pm
Tickets: £15 (£7.50 under 18s) Box Office: 01553 764864 kingslynnfestival.org.uk
Afternoon Discussion – Duke’s Head Hotel Ballroom PE30 1JS 5pm
“Bess of Hardwick: Devices and Desires” author Kate Hubbard in conversation with Playwright Kevin Fegan
Tickets £10(£6.50 under 18s). Ticket Offer: Play and Talk £20 (£10 under 18s)
DERBY: Guildhall Theatre DE1 3AH – Wed 12–Sat 15 June 7:30pm and Thu & Sat matinee 2pm
Tickets: £15, concessions £13, group rates available. Box Office: 01332 255800 Derbylive.co.uk
CANTERBURY: Marlowe Kit Theatre Ct1 2NZ – Tues 18th June . Box Office: 01227 787787 marlowetheatre.com
LONDON: King’s Head Theatre N1 1QN – Sun 16th & Mon 17th June 7pm and Sun 23rd & Mon 24th June 7pm
Tickets: £18 (£15 concs) Box Office: 0207 226 8561 boxoffice@kingsheadtheatre.com
For bookings and technical specifications please contact: kevfegan@gmail.com or 07904 111 671
“In these troubled times, Fortune hangs by a single thread…”
A unique insight into the political intrigues of Elizabethan England, as witnessed first-hand by “Bess of Hardwick”. Bess was the closest female friend and Lady-in-Waiting to Elizabeth I and, at the same time, confidante to Mary Queen of Scots, whom Bess and her 4th husband (the Earl of Shrewsbury) kept under “house-arrest” for over 15 years until Mary’s execution.
“Who’d ‘ave thought, this Derbyshire lass would one day be tab-hanging between two great queens?”
Born a farmer’s daughter, Bess “the commoner queen” rose to become the richest woman in Elizabethan England. She created the Cavendish dynasty and became a maker of queens. Her grand-daughter, Arbella Stuart, was second-in-line to James I and groomed by Bess to become queen and Bess counts amongst her descendants our current Queen Elizabeth II and her heirs to the throne via Lady Diana Spencer.
“My epitaph will say, ‘she built magnificent buildings’,
and yet I find that building is not so hard:
one brick on another like a house of cards;
but a legacy? A legacy is not of brick but blood
and cannot readily be understood.”
This is a female story of survival and astonishing business success in the brutal world of Elizabethan politics.
“Everyone casts a shadow in the sun: we all hath good and bad deeds done.”
An ambitious one-woman show presented as a seamless mix of powerful live performance and luscious film shot on location at Hardwick Hall.
Published by Playdead Press.
