“I need to do a not-very-complicated set change… but I want this to be authentic, so… can I please have a long and awkward blackout.”
A story of return, reconciliation and rehearsals with mum. Step-ball-changing between suburb and city, I, AmDram minds the gap between the identities we assert and the worlds we leave.
In this debut piece of storytelling performance, Hannah Maxwell hops a train back to her hometown (of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire), taking a whistle-stop tour of 90 years of musical theatre heritage in the process. She still remembers every line of the Welwyn Thalians’ 2010 production of My Fair Lady, but nine years in London as a “learned urban lesbian” have left her struggling to find the key.
Developed through the Starting Blocks programme at Camden People’s Theatre, this unique story has charmed audiences across the UK and Australia, including at Cambridge Junction, Colchester Arts Centre, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2019 and Adelaide Fringe 2020 as well as to village halls, pubs and community centres across South East with Applause Rural Touring and the Inn Crowd. Supported by Arts Council England and the Welwyn Thalians Musical and Dramatic Society (est 1929).
Creative Team
Written and performed by Hannah Maxwell
Dramaturgical support: Nick Cassenbaum, Michelle Madsen
Lighting Design: Benedict Hudson
Technical Manager: Becky Plotnek, Livvy Lynch
““A generation Z Caroline Aherne!””
““Pure gold… beautifully constructed and delivered with real skill.””
““Joyful & perceptive””
““A heartfelt and deeply moving tribute””
““I almost lost my goddamn mind laughing””
““Very smart… engaging and layered.” ”
‘Some enchanted evenings…’ in The Guardian