The Telling: I, Spie

Centred around an extraordinary letter written by Renaissance composer/lutenist John Dowland to spymaster Sir Robert Cecil in 1595, this spell-binding concertplay (where music and theatre collide) by award-winning writer Clare Norburn and BAFTA-nominated director Nicholas Renton imagines what might have happened next.

I, Spie tells the story of how John Dowland manages to foil an Italian plot on the life of Queen Elizabeth I and his ensuing grisly dealings with the Secret Service. Think Blackadder meets Spooks with music by Dowland, his contemporaries, and Elizabethan tavern, street and courtly masque music.

This show runs straight through with no interval.

This performance is supported by a grant from Continuo Foundation.

Host or Publisher The Telling