The Roses of Eyam
The Roses of Eyam,written by the late Don Taylor, is a serious historical drama, largely based on the events that happened in the the "Plague Village" of Eyam, Derbyshire, between September 1665 and December 1666 [1]
. Published in 1970, the play best suits an atmospheric setting such as a Norman church or Restoration Manor House, where it can be performed in the round. Taylor himself filmed the story for television in 1973 [2].
The script requires a large cast, within which there must be a core of actors prepared to learn extensive parts and portray passionate and sustained emotion. It begins as educated clergyman the Reverend William Mompesson receives the living from his benefactors, the Savile [3] family. A "King's Man", he is replacing the previous puritan incumbent, Thomas Stanley and the early part of the play establishes that the village is still divided between royalists and roundhead sympathisers.
Meanwhile, local tailorGeorge Vicars takes delivery of a large consignment of cloth from London. Within days the village is stricken by plague.As the play evolves the audience moves from location to location, the action intensifying as the village empties. Each corpse reappears in ghostly white make-up until the audience is surrounded by keening wraiths. Slowly, shockingly the play builds to its tumultuos climax.....
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