Category: Jewel in the Claw

Jewels in the Claw (viii)

Continued from Part Seven. He – the man with the packing cases – picks up his empty tea cup and begins to walk towards the small table near the entrance door of the large room in which the mystery play ran its course. It’s important that everything is cleared, he thinks; restored to how it was, pristine… Laughing to himself, he realises that he … Read More Jewels in the Claw (viii)

Jewels in the Claw (vii)

Continued from Part Six. The tea cup is empty, but he continues to hold it – lost, happily, in his reveries on the edge of what was the stage, the royal court floor… He looks down at the cup and then lifts it to toast the great lady from the Saracen world, an unfinished woman who surprised a Queen of England… or did she? … Read More Jewels in the Claw (vii)

Jewels in the Claw (vi)

Continued from Part Five. Sipping the tea, his hands clasp around the warm cup. The gesture reminds him of the way she took her husband’s arm, at the end of that first glimpse of what The Queen had in store for him. She, John Dee’s wife, Jane, never entertained the notion that she would not stand, shoulder to shoulder, with her foolish but magnificent husband … Read More Jewels in the Claw (vi)

Jewels in the Claw (v)

Continued from Part Four. Kind hands pass him a hot tea. He sits on the edge of what was the Royal Court, sipping and watching the ghosts… Many kind faces came to life in this, now-unstructured space – but it was heavily structured then… It takes but little effort to re-animate its dancing atoms… Sir Francis Drake is a clever man. The naval mastermind … Read More Jewels in the Claw (v)

Jewels in the Claw (i)

  There is a moment when he stops, puts down his packing box, and looks at what remains of the Court Floor. It is the last vestige of a creative journey of twelve months, of twenty souls intent on giving their all to the rather unusual script, and of a Silent Eye spring weekend at the Nightingale Centre in the lovely Derbyshire hills… Do … Read More Jewels in the Claw (i)

The Ghost Ship

The Ghost Ship —- They come from land and some by wave To travel brave and not unnerved Across a globe described by one Who sees in numbers straight and curved —- That one, disgraced, must face a queen Must eat her wrath and test its moment And through eyes of tender wife Must glimpse his soul and seek atonement —- Far more than … Read More The Ghost Ship

A Magical Roundabout

I remember the moment, a few years ago, when Stuart – one of my co-directors of the Silent Eye – said to me: “And that’s it, vanished in an instant: all that work about to be packed up, filed away and forgotten…” He was referring to the hour at the end of our annual workshop during which we tear down the props, pack the … Read More A Magical Roundabout

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The Edge of Order: Frances Walsingham

Originally posted on The Silent Eye:
It had been simple, back then, when all eyes shone with approval; when she was the young bride of the Queen’s Champion, Sir Philip Sidney. This daughter of the ‘Sworn’, – the inner cabal of those who had vowed to lay down their lives, without question, in the defence of their embattled queen – could do no wrong.…

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The Dragon of Elizabeth’s Seas

  It is the beginning of May, 1587, and a man known locally as The Dragon is headed for Cadiz on Spain’s Atlantic coast. His mission is not peaceful. The act of sailing to Cadiz poses few challenges for this master mariner, who, ten years prior, had already circumnavigated the globe – becoming only the second person (after Magellan) to do so. But what … Read More The Dragon of Elizabeth’s Seas

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She of the Voice

 “Ra-bi-ya, Ra-bi-ya…” As she surveys the black and white squares of the court before her, the song echoes in her head, a beloved memory of time spent, long ago, with her mother, playing their hiding game among the orange groves in the gardens of the royal home. ‘She of the voice, the inner voice,’ had been the way they referred to her, later in … Read More She of the Voice

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A Woman of Power and Substance

It is the winter of 1584. The well-dressed woman watches as her fourth husband storms out of the dining hall at their present home, Tutbury Castle, in Staffordshire. In the corner of the room sits a younger woman, now smiling at the angry departure of the man of the house–the sixth Earl of Shrewsbury. The seated woman with the secretive smile has good reason … Read More A Woman of Power and Substance

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The Deadly Edge of Love (part two)

(Continued from Part One of The Deadly Edge of Love) It’s the morning of 18th November, 1558. Robert Dudley is witnessing a miracle. In her dying months, Queen Mary, Elizabeth’s half-sister, and daughter of Henry and Catherine of Aragon, has restored Elizabeth to the line of succession, following the failure of her marriage alliance with Charles II of Spain. Now, Mary is dead, and … Read More The Deadly Edge of Love (part two)

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