Plague Over England Tickets

Nick de Jongh’s play Plague Over England will soon be at the Duchess Theatre in the West End where it will remain until May 2009. This play is a look at the arrest of John Gielgud in 1953, in a time when homosexuality was not tolerated, nor was it legal. From the pen of the Evening Standard theatre critic Nick de Jongh, Plague Over England is a brilliant look at British society in the 1950s as well as an account of the plight of the famous actor John Gielgud, who at the time was at the height of his success.

Plague Over England depicts Gielgud’s arrest and conviction and casts a light over a society that was very different to the one we inhabit today. In America at the time, homosexuals were viewed with suspicious eyes, with judges and the police viewing them as a huge risk to the nation’s security. Over here in the UK, our policies were beginning to follow suit. In the case of John Gielgud, it was a small part of the movement that eventually led to homosexuality becoming legal. Witness 1950s Britain, when homosexuality was likened to cancer and as a result, people were persecuted unfairly – it is a far cry to the modern day.

Showcasing this story for the Duchess Theatre is Tamara Harvey, who directs this play as a follow up to many other successful stage productions. She directed tHe dYsFUnCKshOnalZ! at the Bush Theatre as well as the original production of Plague Over England when it was housed in its original location of the Finborough Theatre. She was the director for shows at the Trafalgar Studios in 2007, including Medea Redux, A Gaggle Of Saints, Iphigenia In Orem and Bash. She also directed Whipping It Up at the New Ambassadors Theatre as well as a production of The Graduate that toured the UK.

Nicholas de Jongh is a theatre critic who currently works for the Evening Standard, but previously has also worked for The Guardian and has written many books, including Not in Front of the Audience, which looked at the stage and homosexuality. His theatre credits include an adaptation of his book Politics, Pruderies and Perversions at the Royal Court in 1996 and a one act play in 1991.

The show, with direction from Tamara Harvey, features design by Alex Marker and is produced by Bill Kenwright.

Plague Over England as at the Duchess Theatre from Monday 16th February 2009 (previews from Wednesday 11th February 2009), currently booking to Saturday 16th May 2009.