That Knave, Raleigh

Show Bio

Created in collaboration with The Old Town Hall, Hemel Hempstead.

Following their five-star show,I, Elizabeth, the award-winning Dyad Productions (A Christmas Carol, Lady Susan, A Room of One’s Own, Christmas Gothic, Austen’s Women, Female Gothic) return to the Elizabethan era. To the famous and fabulous Elizabethan explorer, sailor, dandy, and warrior, Sir Walter Raleigh. Elizabeth I’s favourite and James I’s knave.

This is a journey through the astonishing highs and lows of one of Britain’s most famous historical figures.  But there’s so much you don’t know…

Father, husband, writer, poet, adventurer, philosopher, soldier, tyrant, egotist, lover, traitor, alchemist, visionary, victim.

In a life spanning around 65 years, Sir Walter Raleigh achieved more than others might do in a hundred lifetimes. Over a decade in the tower and still he held power. The Huguenots, America, The Armada and execution. Is that the whole story? The final chapter of Raleigh’s life is perhaps the most daring, strange and utterly heart-breaking.

See the fall from grace taken directly from historical record, marvel at the magnetism of a man who seized every opportunity to create a legacy which spans the centuries and at every wrenching, exalting and personal moment, you will be witnesses.

Written and performed by Andrew Margerison (A Christmas Carol, Frantic Assembly’s Fatherland, Macbeth), and directed by Rebecca Vaughan (A Christmas Carol).

Videos

Content to Consider

The age guidance for this show is 12+. Please note that this show contains reference to suicide, death and execution; use of a gunshot sound effect; and may contain the use of haze.

Studio Event

Please note that this performance takes place in our smaller Studio Theatre. If it’s your first visit or you are unfamiliar with the Mercury building, you can find out more about our spaces here.