Writer and creator of The London Literary Pub Crawl.com. and a few plays. BohemianBritain.com. Event and Theatre Producer. Done quite a bit on the wireless too!
George Holmes is a normal boy who lives on a council estate in Birmingham with his younger sister, Libby, his older brother, Andy and his Mom and Dad. Or at least he did!
After the White Light and all the adults disappear, a strange voice directs them to Billesley Common in Birmingham. Where they end up by the River Thames in London, meet a strange boy soldier and are stalked by a lethal Lungii War Machine!
Duration 9′ 18″. Written, Directed and Produced by Nick Hennegan. Original music and studio production by Robb Williams. Thanks to the Cross Keys Pub, Hammersmith, London. Presented by the Maverick People’s Theatre Company.
Starring Lucy Barton, Rebecca Bright, Grace Manson, Nick Hennegan and Henry Richards. With Rebecca Raybone. Credits VoiceOver Mason Laird.
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Richard hosted the last London Literary Pub Crawl of 2024 in Fitzrovia and Soho tonight.
He wrote… “An all American Crawl tonight. The LLPC doing it’s bit for international cooperation and detente. I’ll cooperate with anyone who buys me a beer!🍻”
Celebrate this festive season with Nick Hennegan, the WORLD PREMIERE of GEORGE HOLMES AND THE 7 DIMENSIONS – and music from Cerys Matthews and Christmas in Soho, with Boisounds.
A few years ago I created a one actor version of A Christmas Carolpartly based on an original script Charles Dickens had started for himself.
I’d been obsessed with the story since I was a small boy in Birmingham. I had a young persons version of the book from school. I would read it every Christmas, making sure I read the last chapter on Christmas Eve. (Strange child!?!)
Years later – and after watching Kenneth Branagh’s film – I wrote a one person version of Shakespeare’s Henry V. Called Henry V – Lion of England, www.HenryVPlay.com it was critically received and toured the world. Then I wrote a few more plays, a couple of which won awards, including a version of Hamlet, https://www.hamletsplay.com featuring the voice of the brilliant Sir Derek Jacobi. I then wrote and produced a four person version of A Christmas Carol with emerging director Katie Merritt. I felt I was qualified to create a solo version of Dickens’ mystical magical tale – emphasising in particular Dickens’ moral aspects. I asked the brilliant Guy Masterson to read a production in the Fitzrovia Chapel in central London. He’d no real knowledge of the story but he saw its potential as a touring show. http://www.TheChristmasCarol.co.uk
I then asked my long-time music collaborator Robb Williams to compose a sound track. Robb is brilliant at interpreting my often obtuse comments (“Can you make it like Land of Hope and Glory – but with more mud!” Or for this “We need to musically time-travel…!”) And it has done quite well!
Working with the hugely talented Guy as performer, the show has been seen around the world, including Off-Broadway in New York. An added bonus for me is that the tour is managed by Theatre Tours International, so I’m not tied up with admin! You know what we bohemians are like..!
Here is Guy‘s latest report from on the road. It’s going well, and although Guy is a talented physical performer – he is obviously a bit tired. Although that may be my fault. As well as writing the script, I directed the show. Perhaps I made him move and dance a bit too much! But he does it VERY well!
A Christmas Carol tour update by Guy Masterson
We’re en Route to the Kirk Theatre, Pickering N Yorks tonight. All but sold out – bit.ly/CCPickering24
Then up to my old stomping ground EDINBURGH for two shows at Assembly Roxy – bit.ly/CCRoxy24 on Frid 13 and Sat 14. TICKETS AVAILABLE.
Thence flying to Bath via Bristol for two more shows on Monday 16th in the GLORIOUS Theatre Royal Bath – NEARLY SOLD OUT – bit.ly/CCBath24.
Thence back down to Bath for two more performances. NEARLY SOLD OUT.
FINALLY – and if you are in or near Hertfordshire, grab your tickets for my last show of the year – CANDLELIT PERFORMANCE IN NORTHAW VILLAGE HALL (near Potters Bar at 4 to 5:45pm followed by drinks The Two Brewers Northaw). To book. please email: theatretoursint@gmail.com
🍷🍷🍷🍷 – 4 out of 5 glasses of Hot Mead! (with NO Ice cubes)
In these days of Pantomime – a glorious British institution – (Oh yes it is!) theatres without massive star-attracting budgets can struggle. Many theatres in the UK depend completely on the revenue from their Christmas show to survive.
So The Theatre At The Tabard’s approach to their crucial Christmas productions has been to craft traditional, child-friendly offerings. And they do them very well! Last year was a well-received production of ‘The Secret Garden’ and E Nesbit’s ‘Five Children and It’ got an outing the year before. This year, the same in-house creative team brings to the stage their engaging take on Hans Christian Andersen’s 1844 fairy tale story of friendship, love, and resilience, ‘The Snow Queen.’
And once again the Tabard have created festive magic!
We learn that an evil troll creates a powerful mirror that distorts reality, making the good appear ugly and the bad seem worse. (Sounds a bit like certain areas of current politics!) But the mirror shatters, spreading shards across the world. Get a grain in your eye, and you will see only the worst of the world and people. Should one lodge in your heart, it will make you cold, cruel and indifferent to the suffering of others. (Yep. Still certain current politics perhaps!)
But of course, it’s a charming story. And although 180 years old it still feels fresh and relevant.
We join the kind and empathic Gerda (played by Rosie Kahlon, who brilliantly channeled the energy of my 12 year old niece! ) and bubbly Kai. (Cameron Chalmers) They are devoted, platonic “best friends forever”. She teaches him to skate, they play with each other and spinning tops and sing carols to the red roses they grow. Kai’s kind Grandma (Maeve Elmore) sits knitting by the fire, bestowing words of wisdom to the inseparable duo. But then a splinter of the magic mirror lodges in Kai’s heart. Overnight, the kindly child turns into a mean teen.
The Snow Queen (a cooly dangerous Freya Crompton) has Kai and transports him to her icy kingdom to complete the task of making him her uncaring acolyte. But kindly Gerda decides she will try and find her best friend. But will she? And can she save him?
Well, you can probably guess the answer, but along the way she has to deal with witches, princesses, thieves and vagabonds. It’s essentially a series of short stories, but has some lively and lovely moments. Director Simon Riley never lets the pace slip, and special mention must go to the technical crew for set and lights and Nick Gilbert who designed the sound and has produced some lovely incidental music.
The puppetry, designed by Jen Marcus is excellent too, with a talking crow and a full-size reindeer!
The term ‘frozen’ comes up quite a lot, and you can see where Walt Disney et al get their inspiration from.
But most importantly and basically, at its heart, this is a show about kindness and friendship. And what more could anyone want from a Christmas production. Slide along to the Theatre at The Tabard for ‘The Snow Queen’ It will chill the coldest heart.
