Past event

Union Chapel, 2019

Date:
7-9 March 2019

On March 7th, 8th and 9th of 2019, Letters Live made its first outing of 2019 by returning to London’s iconic Union Chapel to once again bring letters to life.

 

Over the course of these three unique evenings, Letters Live brought a diverse array of world-class performers from the stage, screen, music, art and literary worlds to breathe life into correspondence from all walks of life, taking its audience on an emotional and unforgettable journey through time.

 

Since first taking to the pulpit at the Union Chapel in July 2017, Letters Live have sold out eight shows there and presented audiences with captivating performances from the likes of Olivia Colman, Colin Firth, Michael Palin, Helen McCrory, Jeremy Corbyn, Mariella Frostrup, Ade Edmondson, Rose McGowan, Benedict Cumberbatch, Nick Cave, Sharon Horgan, Taron Egerton, Damian Lewis, Zawe Ashton, Rob Brydon, Jarvis Cocker and many others.

Programme

 

Andy Serkis

 
The cruelest of all animals

George Bernard Shaw to London Daily News

 
Let us become strangers again

DH Lawrence to Bertrand Russell

 
Surely this inverts the truth

Nicholas Boyle to FT

 

 

Benedict Cumberbatch

 
What gloomy tidings about the CRABS

Patrick Leigh Fermor to Erica Soma

 
Shut up and listen

Rik Mayall to Mohamed Al-Fayed

 
The last mad Empire on earth

Dylan Thomas to Caitlin

 

 

Clarke Peters

 
The Last Hero

Kirk Douglas to Gary Cooper

 
May we meet in paradise

Theophane Venard to His Father

 

 

Clarke Peters and Shappi Khorsandi

 
Do scientists pray?

Albert Einstein to Phyllis

 

 

Edith Bowman

 
Who is Karen Carpenter

Kim Gordon to Karen Carpenter

 
How dare you

Aretha Franklin to Liz Smith

 

 

Helen McCrory

 
I am unable to accept your rejection at this time

Paula Devlin to Various Collegues

 
The Matchbox

Sylvia Townsend to Alyse Gregory

 

 

Helen McCrory and Louise Brealey

 
Christopher’s choking!

Karen A. to Dear Dolly

 

 

Julian Clary

 
Composer for nitwits

Erik Satie

 
I love you Jac

Bob Monkhouse to Jackie Monkhouse

 
She diddles all the time

John Newton to Abraham Lincoln

 

 

Juliet Stevenson

 
And that’s that

Edna st Vincent Millay to Norma Millay

 
She’ll simply change the rules

Patsy Davies to The Guardian

 
We are all minnows in life together

Martha Gallhorn to Diana Cooper

 

 

Louise Brealey

 
When Death Comes

Aidan Kingwell to Mary Oliver

 

 

Sanjeev Bhaskar

 
Strip down, facing me

Tony Capezza to The Lowell Sun

 

 

Sanjeev Bhaskar and Edith Bowman

 
I’ll never have any friends

Leonard Nimoy to F.C.

 

 

Shappi Khorsandi

 
Speak the truth and shame the devil

Madonna to David Letterman

 

 

Stephen Mangan

 
The Caribbean Airline

Arthur Hicks to Airline

 
Cease and desist

The Beano to Jacob Rees Mogg

 
The Cat Ranch

Jack Lemmon to Walter Matthau

 

 

Toby Jones

 
Roald Dahl – Strength through joy
 
You ignorant freak

Hunter S. Thompson to Dave Allen

 
Abortion is a terrifying thing

Italo Calvino to Claudio Magris