Details

Edward Elgar, acclaimed as England's best-loved composer, was born on 2nd June 1857, and his 150th Anniversary is being celebrated throughout 2007. The play Elgar and Alice is rooted in Elgar's Worcestershire. It was inspired by the painter Catherine Moody, whose father knew Elgar in the 1930s, and by the actor Edward Hardwicke, whose father Sir Cedric Hardwicke was associated with Elgar, G.B. Shaw, Sir Barry Jackson and others through the Malvern Festival. The play is set in 1920 at Severn House, Hampstead, the Elgars' home, and explores the extraordinary marriage that resulted in great English music ranging from Land of Hope and Glory to oratorios, symphonies and popular songs. The play includes a new and ground-breaking solution to the 'enigma' in his Enigma Variations that has long puzzled musicologists. Extracts from the play which will lead to a workshop with actors from Sterts Theatre Company; exploring the themes brought out by the extract they have performed.

Cast/Performers

Peter Sutton, Katrina Norbury

Creatives/Company

Author: Peter Sutton