This is an archive of information advertised in 2023. Dates, prices and booking details below are historical. See the organiser’s current information.
Buxton International Festival and Norwich Theatre announced the cast of their 2023 co-production, The Land of Might-Have-Been, which opened at Buxton Opera House on 7 July.
This new musical is built around the songs of Ivor Novello and is loosely based on incidents in the early life of Buxton’s pioneering feminist and pacifist Vera Brittain and the lives, loves and stories of those closest to her.
Audrey Brisson played Vera Brittain. She had previously played the title role in Amélie the Musical, earning Olivier and UK Theatre Award nominations, and appeared in Jekyll and Hyde, Into the Woods, Dr Seuss’s The Lorax and The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk.
Alexander Knox played Roland Leighton, Vera’s fiancé; George Arvidson played her brother Edward Brittain; and Kit Esuruoso played Bobbie, Edward’s lover in the musical. Esuruoso had won an Australian Screen Industry Network Best Actor award for Akoni and had appeared in Show Boat, Tina and West Side Story.
The Land of Might-Have-Been, with book and lyrics by Michael Williams and songs by Ivor Novello arranged by Iain Farrington, was the first co-production between Buxton International Festival and Norwich Theatre. Kimberley Sykes directed, Iwan Davies conducted, Nicky Shaw designed the sets and costumes, Jake Wiltshire designed the lighting and Declan Matwij designed the sound. The initial announcement named Nathan M Wright as choreographer; a later Norwich Theatre rehearsal report credited Micha Meazza.
The announced cast also included Stuart Pendred, Bernadine Pritchett, Elin Davies, Julie Teal, Boaz Chad, Richard Woodall, Helen Maree Cooper, Julia Mariko, Tobias Campos Santiñaque and Charlie St John.
2023 performances
The production was scheduled for Buxton Opera House on 7, 11, 15, 18 and 21 July 2023, and Norwich Theatre from 25 to 30 July 2023.
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