Past event

Union Chapel, 2018

Date:
7-9 March 2018

On the back of two sold-out nights in July 2017 during which audiences were treated to captivating performances from the likes of Colin Firth, Michael Palin, Noma Dumezweni, Taron Egerton, Rob Brydon, Amanda Abbington, and many others, Letters Live returned in March 2018 to London’s iconic Union Chapel to once again bring letters to life.

 

Over the course of these three unique evenings, the pulpit was graced by, in no particular order, Amanda Abbington, Louise Brealey, Ophelia Lovibond, Mariella Frostrup, Gina Miller, Helen McCrory, Sophie Hunter, Ayobami Adebayo, Juno Dawson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Elizabeth Debicki, Damian Lewis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jon Culshaw, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Ian McShane, Tony Robinson, Noel Fielding, Sinead Cusack, Sue Perkins, Celia Imrie, Rose McGowan, John Bishop, Ade Edmonson, Julian Clary, Matt Berry, Olivia Colman, Niamh McGrady, Sharon Horgan, Jeremy Corbyn, Meera Syal, Jarvis Cocker, and Nick Cave, all of whom helped to breathe life into correspondence from all walks of life and take the audiences on an emotional and unforgettable journey through time.

 

Our chosen charities for this run of shows were First Story, Women for Women International, and Help Refugees.

Programme

Wednesday, 7th March 2018

 

Adrian Edmondson

 
Notes Upon Sounds

Ford Madox Ford to Joseph Conrad

 
Picture The Scene

Rik Mayall to Bob Geldof

 

 

Benedict Cumberbatch

 
Fart Proudly

Benjamin Franklin to the Royal Academy

 
A Lousy Proposition

Evelyn Waugh to Laura Herbert

 

 

Jarvis Cocker

 
You are a considerable cat’s paw

William Hazlitt to William Gifford

 
It’s a Virus

Tom Waits to The Nation

 

 

Jeremy Corbyn

 
Nothing good gets away

John Steinbeck to Thomas Steinbeck

 
I hope you don’t feel too disappointed

Eric Idle to John Major

 

 

Jeremy, Benedict, Jarvis, Olivia, Julian, Meera, Adrian, John and Sharon

 
Dogs Vs Cats

Various to The Guardian

 

 

John Bishop

 
Dear Abby

Worried in Chicago to Abby

 
Bill Hicks on Freedom of Speech

Bill Hicks to A Priest

 

 

Julian Clary

 
Now her soul is free

Ram Dass to Steve and Anita Isser

 
Church Weddings Are Vulgar & Stupid

Alexander Woollcott to Alexander Woollcott

 
It will be sunny one day

Stephen Fry to Crystal

 

 

Matt Berry

 
GO TO HELL

Asger Jorn to Harry Guggenheim

 
I would rather die

Harold Pinter to Tom Stoppard

 

 

Meera Syal

 
Wisdom is a gift

Toni Morrison to Barack Obama

 
I Cannot Do Less

Simone de Beauvoir to Nelson Algern

 
You may not send us your verses

Angus and Robertson to FC Meyer

 

 

Nick Cave

 
My muse is not a horse

Nick Cave to MTV

 

 

Niamh McGrady

 
I refuse to be cheated out of my deathbed scene

Rebeca West to H.G. Wells

 
Your road manager needs a POKE

Anonymous Child to The Rolling Stones

 

 

Olivia Colman

 
Know that you are Loved

Dorothy Freeman to Rachel Carson

 
Also

Lady Elizabeth Compton to Lord William Compton

 
Thank you, and I hope you choke

Beatles Fan to Nike

 

 

Sharon Horgan

 
I am in receipt of your final demand

Naval Officer to a Creditor

 
Have A Happy Period

Wendi Aarons to James Thatcher

 

 

Music

 
 

Nick Cave

 
Love Letter
God Is In The House

 

Thursday, 8th March 2018

 

Amanda Abbington

 
I’m sure you will agree

Edith Sitwell to Mrs. Alma

 

 

Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀

 
Don’t let anyone define who you are

Angelique Kidjo to Girls of the World

 

 

Benedict Cumberbatch

 
She was the music heard faintly at the edge of sound

Raymond Chandler to Leonard Russell

 

 

Damian Lewis

 
I am not a doctor

George Bernard Shaw to A Fan

 

 

Elizabeth Debicki

 
He is a lazy, ungrateful, loafing scoundrel

Sarah Jones to the Stamford Advocate

 

 

Gina Miller

 
Don’t let anybody raise you

Maya Angelou to Herself

 
A 3rd world Audrey Hepburn

Cher to Audrey Hepburn

 

 

Gina Miller and Mariella Frostrup

 
What should I do?

Frustrated to Abbie

 

 

Helen McCrory

 
The story comes from you

Laura Dern to her daughter

 
This is not the way to play football

David Hickey to The Independent

 

 

Helen McCrory and Louise Brealey

 
My Dear Son

M. Prichard to Various

 

 

Juno Dawson

 
Be with us in this fight

Georgia O’Keefe to Eleanor Roosevelt

 

 

Kristin Scott Thomas

 
You are not so kind as you used to be

Clementine Churchill to Winston Churchill

 
One’s Drop Scones

Queen Elizabeth II to President Eisenhower

 
The most astonishing thing

Madame de Sevigne to Philippe de Coulanges

 

 

Louise Brealey

 
Dear Mum

Hannah Woodhead to Her Mum

 
God’s Law

A Fan to Dr Laura

 

 

Mariella Frostrup

 
Dear Sir

Sarah-Louise Jordan to An Admirer

 

 

Niamh McGrady

 
The appalling horror

Florence Nightingale to William Bowman

 
Have a happy period

Wendi Irons to James Thatcher

 

 

Ophelia Lovibond

 
You did not just attack me that night

Ione Wells to Her Assaulter

 
Also

Lady Elizabeth Compton to Lord William Compton

 
You did not just attack me that night

Ione Wells to Her Assaulter

 

 

Sophie Hunter

 
Look for me in the sunsets

Emmie to Summer

 
Keep Dreaming

Debbie Harry to Her younger self

 

 

Music

 
 

Megan Wyler & 3 Singers

Light of Mine
Still I Rise

 

Roxanne Tataei

Running up that hill
Dancing with the Devil
 

Friday, 9th March 2018

 

Benedict Cumberbatch

 
This was no truss sabotage

Fred Allen to Joe Kelly

 
Elementary Mistake

Phil Merivale to The Telegraph

 

 

Celia Imrie

 
Out of all this came happiness

Diana Athill to Bibi Lynch

 
What is wrong with you?

Jonna Ramey to White Nationalists

 

 

Ian McShane

 
For your first Christmas

Walter Page to His Grandson

 
Stupidity is a crime

Dalton Trumbo to CoL Hospital

 

 

Jon Culshaw

 
You have no television persona

Donald Trump to Richard Branson

 
Dear Person

Jack Lemmon to Burt Russell

 

 

Louise Brealey

 
A squeal of pain

Vita Sackville West to Virginia Woolf

 
You’re just a boy

Agnes Von Kurowsky to Ernest Hemingway

 

 

Noel Fielding

 
If Only

Percy Grainger to Karen Holten

 
Mine’s a double

Rick Mayall to Orson Welles

 

 

Rose McGowan

 
The loss of you lingers

Karin Cook to Her Mum

 
Dear Hollywood

Rose McGowan to Hollywood

 

 

Sanjeev Bhaskar

 
Oh my ass burns like fire!

Mozart to Marianne

 
Let me have artists for friends

JD Fergusson to His Wife

 

 

Sinead Cusack

 
Don’t Give Up

Jane Fonda to Her Younger Self

 
You’re doing just fine, soldier

June Wandrey to Her Family

 

 

Sue Perkins

 
My Darling Pickle

Sue Perkins to Her Dog

 

 

Sue Perkins and Noel Fielding

 
One’s Drop Scones

The Queen to President Eisenhower

 

 

Tony Robinson

 
Dear Lupin

Roger Mortimer to His Son

 
How did you get invented?

The Archbishop of Canterbury to Lulu

 

 

Music

 

Aliou Toure – Songhoy Blues

One Colour
Petite Metier
 

Honey Feet

Miner’s Hymn
Whatever you do