Waxing Lyrical & A Grain Of Sand In Lambeth - double bill with Judith Paris & Michael Loughnan at Landor Theatre

Waxing Lyrical & A Grain Of Sand In Lambeth, a double bill celebrating post revolutionary visionaries at the turn of the nineteenth century, at the Landor Theatre, a fringe venue in Clapham south London from 13 to 24 April 2010.

This double bill begins with Waxing Lyrical written and performed by Judith Paris. The life story of the business woman who single handedly created the world famous business empire Madame Tussauds. Judith Paris follows Marie Tussaud, nee Grosholtz, on the 160th anniversary of her death on 15th April 1850 as she becomes one of the greatest showmen ever, personifying persistence, fortitude, dedication and belief as one of the earliest adopters of the modern phenomenon of celebrity culture. Taking early casts from the beheaded victims of the guillotine when Curtius's Wax Exhibition became the official face of the Revolution, Tussaud toured Britain and Ireland for thirty three gruelling years with her travelling wax cabinet, bringing up her son and fighting off competition against a background of fire, riot, shipwreck and betrayal.

Michael Loughnan brings William Blake to life on stage with almost every line of A Grain of Sand in Lambeth taken directly from his writings. Here we see profound changes in the life of the artisan engraver, visionary, poet, political radical and religious dissenter, from the sojourn at Felpham, to his growing frustration with his patron Hayley, the infamous encounter with the soldier Skofield in the cottage garden and the consequent trial of Blake on trumped up charges of sedition after which haunted him for many years.

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