24 – 27 July
The Everyman Theatre Cheltenham, in association with Worcester Theatres and Malvernbard present a new play by Nick Wilkes
WHEN VINCENT MET JOHN
A hypothetical meeting between John Lennon and Vincent van Gogh. Vincent died in 1890, John died in1980, both of gunshot wounds to the chest. But imagine what might have happened, had the two greatest artists of their time, met?
Vincent van Gogh was a nineteenth-century Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. Although he was not widely appreciated during his lifetime, he is now famed for the great vitality of his works characterised by expressive and emotive use of brilliant colour, energetic application of impastoed paint and highly expressive brushwork that contributed to the foundations of modern art.
John Lennon was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who gained worldwide fame with The Beatles. Lennon went on to have a distinguished solo career and, with his wife Yoko Ono, was an icon of the 1960s counter-culture revolution and an anti-war activist. His song writing partnership with Paul McCartney remains the most successful in history, and his life and works changed modern music forever.
Five years before their deaths both men went through profound change.
Vincent van Gogh finally renounced his religious ambitions and began to paint in earnest, and despite great arguments with antagonist Paul Gaugin created his life’s great masterworks.
John Lennon renounced sex, drugs and rock & roll and began five years seclusion as a family unit, and despite great arguments with antagonist Paul McCartney created a son, and what would be his last album.
Is art more important than life? Which endures? And what has more value, contentment or legacy? With the clock ticking and with each man straining for something, is there a way forward for either of these two passionate, unpredictable, temperamental and volatile artists?
This play takes place at their exact moment of crisis and decision, a spiralling shout of life, hate, love, death, art and legacy.
The Everyman Theatre
Regent Street, Cheltenham, GL50 1HQ
Photo credit: Nick Wilkes
