The Hollow Crown

THE HOLLOW CROWN: The fall and Foibles of the Kings & Queens of England

The Hollow Crown was first performed by the RSC in 1961 and is a collection of writings and songs about the British monarchy. They are revealing, rarely flattering and often wryly humorous. Some are by the monarchs themselves, including letters, a diary and  poetry. Some are by their contemporaries or later commentators and they range in date from Anglo Saxon times to the mid-19th century. Some are also accompanied by music and songs.

This will be an entertaining and very sociable evening (the bar will be open throughout). Seating will be cafe style in tables of 4-5 so come with a group of friends or come along on your own and we’ll seat you.
Tickets cost £15 each and a light buffet supper will be provided including pies and pasties (with a vegetarian option) by award-winning Chunk of Devon.

To mark the Coronation of King Charles, Lympstone Players and Lympstone Entertainments will be performing The Hollow Crown, by John Barton: an Entertainment written by and about the Kings and Queens of England, performed at the Village Hall on the evenings before and after the Coronation, Friday 5th May at 7.30pm and Sunday 7th May at 5.30pm.
The Hollow Crown is subtitled An Entertainment by and about the Kings and Queens of England, and consists of Music, Poetry, Speeches, Letters and other Writings from the Chronicles, from Plays, and in some cases in the monarch’s own words. There will also be music concerning them and by them. John Barton for the Royal Shakespeare Company devised it in 1961.
The village hall will be laid out in cafe style with tables, and a bar will be open through the evening. During the interval a light buffet will be provided. Further details, including how to buy tickets, are included in the poster elsewhere in this magazine, and on posters around the village.

From William the Conqueror to Queen Victoria, our most famous monarchs speak in their own words. Henry VIII writes a love letter to Anne Boleyn. She replies from the Tower, awaiting execution. Richard I composes a song which he sings imprisoned in a foreign dungeon, James I denounces tobacco, and Elizabeth I writes a poem which complains of all the men who want to make love to her. Henry VII asks for an intimate description of the Queen of Naples’ daughter, and Queen Mary protests about a rebellion against her marriage to the King of Spain. The 15-year-old Jane Austen gives us her partial, prejudiced and amused view of them all.
It ends appropriately enough with the young Queen Victoria’s description of her Coronation, in which the unwitting comic turn is Lord Rolle of Exmouth.
There was nothing the monarchs liked more than a good song, and several turned their hands to writing them. From the 12th century Worlde’s Bliss, through a hunting song by Henry VIII, to the Vicar of Bray and a parlour ballad by Prince Albert, we all end up singing Here’s a Health Unto His Majesty, and celebrating the history of our weird, sometimes bloody, occasionally mad, and always entertaining monarchy.

Stars from the Lympstone Players perform this extraordinary entertainment, which was concocted for the Royal Shakespeare Company. It is a joint production with Lympstone Entertainments and directed by Harland Walshaw.

Friday, 5th May at 7.30pm
Sunday, 7th May at 5.30pm
Tickets £15 (including light buffet) from lympstoneplayersboxoffice@gmail.com   and Railway Arch Sat 8, 15 and 29 April (10.30am – 11.30am)
Further information: lympstone-entertainments.net