The Imagined story of John Dowland, as he combines his life as a court musician / composer with the Elizabethan espionage underworld.

This spell-binding new 'concert-play' (where music and theatre collide) by Clare Norburn tells the story of renaissance composer/lutenist John Dowland’s brush with the Secret Service and how he manages to foil an Italian plot on the life of Queen Elizabeth I. Think Spooks, 16th Century-style! But ultimately, John's fate is in your hands as you vote on how the show should end. Plus, ahead of the show, you'll be invited to crack the all-important code.

The drama is directed by Nicholas Renton (BAFTA-nominated Mrs Gaskell's Wives and Daughters, Musketeers, A Room With A View, Lewis, Silent Witness).​

The playwright, Clare Norburn, is also the soprano and Artistic Director of The Telling, who are renowned for immersing audiences in a world of music and theatre. They will perform music by Dowland and his contemporaries, alongside Elizabethan tavern, street and courtly masque music.

Line-up includes: 

Dominic Marsh​ as John Dowland

Danny Webb as The Man (Sir Robert Cecil / Philippes / Father Scudamore / Topliffe, the torturer)

Alice Imelda as The Woman (Maria / Future Mrs Dowland / Elizabeth I)

The Telling​

Clare Norburn, soprano

Emily Baines, recorders/bagpipes

Giles Lewin, fiddle/bagpipes

Alison Kinder, viols/recorders

James Bramley, lute/cittern

Directed by Nicholas Renton

Written & produced by Clare Norburn

Lighting Designer Natalie Rowland

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