28th August 2026 7:30pm

An Actor Convalescing in Devon​

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By Richard Nelson. Performed by Paul Jesson

Directed by Clarissa Brown. Sound by Mike Walker

 

First presented by Hampstead Theatre in April 2024 and subsequently at The Ustinov Studio Theatre,

Bath and the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.

 

An actor takes the slow train to the West Country where he is to spend a long weekend with a friend who lives there. Glad to be alive but unsure of his future, he shares his stories and thoughts about Shakespeare, friends,

his career and the challenges of his own health. A funny, intimate play that movingly asserts the healing power of art and the healing art of theatre.

 

"He told me about some bloke who wasn’t well and then got better

by placing a poem by William Blake in his shirt pocket …"

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⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ‘Warm-hearted and moving’ 

Londontheatre1
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'Overlaps fact and fiction to stirring effect'

Broadway World
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 'A fine actor in command of a lovely script'
The Arts Desk

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Richard Nelson is an Honorary Associate Artist of the RSC and the
winner of many awards including an Olivier and a Tony. Of his more
than fifty plays and screenplays, the most recent are More Beauty
than Sorrow, written for the Kyiv Theatre on Podil, Ukraine, and
Springwood at Hampstead Theatre, both of which he directed
himself.

Paul Jesson is an Associate Artist of the RSC and twice winner of
of an Olivier Award. Recent work includes Adam in As You Like It
and Gonzalo in The Tempest. On television he appeared as Sir
Geoffrey Howe in The Crown and will feature in Mike Leigh's
forthcoming film Tender Loving Care.

Clarissa Brown is a theatre director and writer. She was based at the
RSC over seven years where she ran writers' workshops and was
Associate Director on David Edgar's play of the year Pentecost.
She has directed large-scale community productions

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‘The return of Paul Jesson to the stage is deeply moving.’ - Sir David Hare

 

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