Cockpit Theatre Welcomes New Musical Based on Barbara Pym Novel

Returning to London after a successful one-off concert performance at RADA, The Mirror Never Lies will come to the Cockpit Theatre for a week of performances this November. Based on Barbara Pym's beloved novel, The Sweet Dove Died, this bittersweet story about the power of beauty will transport you back to 1960's London.

London in the 1960s, Carnaby Street: the smell of pot in the air along with the raw music of a new generation. A woman of a certain age and another era, addicted to collecting beautiful objects falls in love with a much younger man instead of his more "suitable" older uncle. Finding that the young man is already entangled with a girl, she uses her guile to crush the young woman's hopes only to discover a second, male suitor has secured the young man for himself using her very own methods. The world around her accepts that with the passing years we all must change, but she will not bend.

Barbara Pym published her first novel, Some Tame Gazelle, with Jonathan Cape in 1950. Thereafter she published eleven novels; two came out posthumously. Pym's literary career is noteworthy for the long hiatus between 1963 and 1977 when, despite early success and continuing popularity. Her publisher Jonathan Cape rejected her manuscripts after 1961, considering her writing style old fashioned. The turning point came when an influential article in 1977 in the Times Literary Supplement nominated her as "the most underrated writer of the 20th Century".

Director and playwright Joe Giuffre created the role of the Tin Woodsman for the National Tour of The Wizard of Oz and performed in national tours of Cats, Camelot, and Me and My Girl. His first foray into the field of writing musical revues, Glamorous Nights, is based on the life and music of Ivor Novello, followed by The Grifters and The Mirror Never Lies.

Composer of film and theatre, Juan Iglesias has created the film scores for Cannibals & Carpet Fitters (2014), the award-winning Blackout (2012) and the internet sensation Predator: Dark Ages (2015). Working in both the UK and US, Juan has created original music for a diverse range of movies, theatre and media. In the UK, he is a regular collaborator with film director James Bushe and playwright Eddie Coleman.

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