George Maguire Will Lead WHAT I AM at Greenside at George Street
Performances will run 7 - 15 August.
George Maguire will lead What I Am, a new play with songs, directed by two-time OFFIE Award nominee Guy Retallack at Greenside at George Street. Performances will run 7 - 15 August.
They locked him up. Today he must be heard. Step into the asylum room of poet John Clare as he sings for his freedom. This performance is his one chance to prove himself: to hold onto his name, his past and his sanity. But the recital unravels.
Racing to complete his greatest poem, I Am, he turns to the audience for help, drawing them into his tragic, uplifting story.
Blending English folk music with electronic textures and beats, the show combines lyricism, ribald humour and desperation as his mind unravels and questions about identity, memory and recognition as a poet emerge.
Clare's voice feels modern. He articulates the healing power of nature and the impact of its destruction, with an individual's isolation and fear of being unseen. Placing him close-up in a room with a 21st century audience removes literal and historical distance and makes his struggles urgent, vivid and immediate.
What I Am writers Jim Pickles and Eric Angus said, “We wanted to tell the story of a great artist trying desperately to prove his sanity and hold on to his identity in an all-or-nothing performance. We want the audience not just to be watching. We want them to feel part of the struggle.”
About George Maguire
George Maguire is an acclaimed West End actor, and winner of the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical as Dave Davies in Sunny Afternoon. He recently starred in Burlesque The Musical at the Savoy Theatre. Previous stage and theatre credits include: Death Note in Concert (Lyric Theatre), Tarantino Live (Riverside Studios), Buck Barrow in Bonnie & Clyde (Garrick Theatre / Arts Theatre / Theatre Royal Drury Lane).
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