I, Spie

A play by Clare Norburn

an imagined story of JOHN DOWLAND, combining his life as a court musician and composer with his grisly dealings with the Elizabethan espionage underworld

Directed by Nicholas Renton, the actors and musicians in Clare Norburn’s play I, Spie, will perform the music of John Dowland and his contemporaries, alongside Elizabethan tavern, street and courtly masque music, in 13 performances throughout the United Kingdom, beginning in Richmond on Sunday 9 June through to Liverpool on 23 June 2024; see below for full details.

The drama in I, Spie unfolds from a letter which John Dowland wrote to spymaster Sir Robert Cecil in 1959. Dowland was travelling in Europe on travel papers signed by Cecil, as Clare Norburn explains:

Being a Catholic informant in Elizabethan England was a dangerous business – no one entirely trusted you, even if your information was helpful. The 1580s has seen a series of Catholic plots and the terrifying threat of the Spanish Armada – and with the Queen ageing without any clear succession, by 1595 there was a febrile sense of panic and suspicion.  In that context, it is no wonder that Dowland’s letter reads like a man out of his depths: he sounds scared for his own life – and with good reason.  Catholics who informed were not always fully trusted – many ended up on the gallows.  But on the other hand, he does dish up the information and effectively foil the plot… Quite how involved in it all was he?

The three actors, each playing multiple characters are: Dominic Marsh​ as John Dowland, Niall Ashdown as The Man (Sir Robert Cecil / Philippes / Father Scudamore / Topliffe, the torturer), and Leila Mimmack as The Woman (Maria / Future Mrs Dowland / Elizabeth I).

The musicians performing in this season are: sopranos Héloïse Bernard and Elizabeth Unsworth-Wilson, Emily Baines (recorders/bagpipes), Giles Lewin (fiddle/bagpipes), Alison Kinder (viols/recorders) and James Bramley (lute) – in the previous season Jamie Akers was the lutenist.

The Telling are a world-renowned medieval ensemble whose leading directors, actors, musicians and lighting designers ‘creates unique immersive staged concerts bringing early music off the page to wider audiences’. The playwright and soprano, Clare Norburn, is also the Artistic Director of The Telling: website.

LIST OF I, Spie PERFORMANCES

Sunday 9 June 2024: London: Raleigh Road United Church Hall, Raleigh Road, Richmond TW9 2DX, 7.30pm. Tickets.

Tuesday 11 June 2024: Brighton: St Augustine’s Arts & Events Centre, Stanford Ave, Brighton BN1 6EA, 7.30pm. Tickets.

Wednesday 12 June 2024: Ulverston: The Coro, County Square, LA12 7LZ, 7.30pm. Tickets.

Thursday 13 June 2024: Glasgow: Webster’s Theatre, 416 Great Western Rd, G4 9HZ, 7.30pm. Tickets.

Friday 14 June 2024: Stranraer, Dunfries & Galloway: Ryan Centre, Fairhurst Rd, DG9 7AP. Tickets.

Saturday 15 June 2024: Lancaster: The Gregson Community & Arts Centre, 33–35 Moorgate, LA1 3PY, 7.30pm. Tickets.

Sunday 16 June 2024: Colwyn Bay, North Wales: Church House, Church Street, Glan Conwy, LL28 5LY, 7.30pm. Tickets.

Tuesday 18 June 2024: Stratford-upon-Avon: Stratford Play House, 14 Rother St, Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 6LU, 7.30pm. Tickets.

Wednesday 19 June 2024: Folkestone: Quarterhouse, 49 Tontine St, CT20 1JT, 7.30pm. Tickets.

Thursday 20 June 2024: Colchester: Wimpole Road Methodist Church Hall, Wimpole Road, CO1 2DN, 7.30pm. Tickets.

Friday 21 June 2024: Bedford: Bunyan Meeting, Mill St, MK40 3EU, 7.30pm. Tickets.

Saturday 22 June 2024: Cardiff: St Edward’s Church, Westville Rd, CF23 5DE, 7.30pm. Tickets.

Sunday 23 June 2024: Liverpool: Ullet Road Church Hall, Liverpool, 57 Ullet Road, L17 2AA, 5pm. Tickets.

© Thérèse Wassily Saba 2024