Show Information
Tickets General Admission £20
Concession £18
Running time 90 minutes (no interval)
On-the-door tickets will be available from the box office (open one hour before the performance) at £23 for General Admission and £21 for Concession. Book early for the best prices!
Vincent Van Gogh died in 1890, John Lennon died in 1980, both of gunshot wounds to the chest. But imagine what might have happened had the two greatest artists of their time met?
This hypothetical meeting between John Lennon and Vincent van Gogh is the premise of a new play by actor and writer Nick Wilkes. We all know that Vincent van Gogh was a nineteenth-century Dutch Post-Impressionist painter and amongst the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. We all know John Lennon was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who gained worldwide fame with The Beatles.
What we don’t all know is that five years before their respective deaths both men went through profound change, and this is what has inspired playwright Nick Wilkes to bring these two cultural giants together.
“When you compare their lives, it’s amazing the similarities and connections that can be drawn” said Nick. “Their lives begin as polar opposites, but just like a bouncing ball getting ever closer to the floor, their lives become more and more drawn together by similar events. ”Vincent van Gogh finally renounced his religious ambitions and began to paint in earnest, and despite great arguments with antagonist Paul Gaugin created his life’s great master works. John Lennon renounced sex, drugs and rock & roll and began five years seclusion as a family unit, and despite great arguments with antagonist Paul McCartney created a son, and what would be his last album. “They were both very strong-willed and outspoken; passionate, unpredictable, temperamental and volatile artists passionate about their art. They say opposites attract, but when two such charged individuals are brought together then it’s fated that sparks will fly.”
Cast & Creative
Owen Harper – Director
Owen is the Creative Producer at Worcester Theatres, having obtained his Masters in Touring Theatre from the University of Worcester in 2020. He has directed a range of works to date, from modern adaptations, Greek tragedies, classic Shakespeare and original texts. Owen has also worked with Award-winning Birmingham based theatre company Stan’s Cafe on several projects.
Credits include: The Periodicals (2024), Little Red Riding Hood (2023), Romeo and Juliet(2023), You In (2023), The Unknown (2023), Diary of a Badminton Player (2023) Samphire(2023), Antigone (2022), Precious Emily (2022), CTRL Delete (2022), Hunt (2022), All OurMoney–Micro-Production (2021), What’s The End? (2021), The Will To Live (2021)
Nick Wilkes – Writer / John Lennon
Nick trained at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and has worked extensively in the theatre over the past two decades. As an actor has appeared in countless productions both in the UK and overseas working in classical and contemporary drama, comedy, pantomime and weekly rep, working alongside names as diverse as Charlton Heston and Simon Callow through to Keith Harris and Orville the Duck!
Selected credits include: Measure For Measure, Coriolanus (Tobacco Factory Bristol), As You Like It, School For Scandal, Under Milk Wood (Bristol Old Vic), Elysian Fields, Adrian’s Wall, To Build a Wooden O, Lost the Plot (Malvernbard). Rope, Doctor in the House, How the Other Half Loves, The Unexpected Guest (Charles Vance Productions), Wait Until Dark, Seasons Greetings, Strangers On A Train, Time and Time Again (Sheringham Rep), King John, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, The Importance of Being Earnest (Worcester Rep), An Audience with Charlton Heston, Almost a Christmas Carol, Almost a Midsummer Night’s Dream, Almost Treasure Island (Roses Theatre Tewkesbury), Golden Swords (Shakespeare’s Globe), Blood Brothers (UK tour, Bill Kenwright Ltd).Nick was the first Writer in Residence at Malvern Theatres since George Bernard Shaw and has written over thirty new works to date. These have played in numerous venues around the country, from small studio theatres and larger theatres to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon.
Murray Andrews – Vincent Van Gogh
Murray trained with the Everyman Youth Theatre in Cheltenham and at the Gloucestershire College of Art & Technology. He has worked as an actor nationally and internationally for thirty years.
Credits include: Amadeus, Waiting For Godot, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, (Voice Theatre Co.), Treasure Island, Pirates of the River Severn, Perry Putcher (Old Spot Theatre Co.), Keep on Moving, Macbeth, Beauty and the Beast, Hansel & Gretal, Cinderella, Arabian Nights (Fairgame Theatre Co.), A Child in the Forest, The Tempest(Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham), The Wind in the Willows (Dream shed Theatre Co.), The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Mysterious Gentleman(Jenny Wren Productions), Coyote on a Fence(MPG Theatre), Suitable for Shop Work, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Lost the Plot (Worcester Rep), Resting, Recovering, Jitters, Sunking, Disconnected, Oscars, Three Feet, Casting, Radiodram, Elysian Fields, Murder by Word, Mog Bridges, Adrian’s Wall, Wasters, To Build a Wooden O, Litter Hero, The Fool at Yule and Lost the Plot (Malvernbard)
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