History Told In A Way That’s Destined For The Stage!

Histories of the Unexpected: The Tudors

Histories of The Unexpected: The Tudors!, comes to Shelley Theatre on Saturday 30th November. The chart-topping book and podcast from Sam Willis — one of the country’s best-known historians — and Professor James Daybell, looks at this period in history in a gripping new way — and one that is tailored for the stage. The show demonstrates how everything has a history — even the most unexpected of subjects, such as clouds, shrinking and fire.

Sam said ‘Historians have a duty to entertain. The last thing we want to conjure up is the image of two historians lecturing to a bored audience! To bring our show alive we have worked with an award-winning playwright who turned our innovative view of the past into reality with props, audio, and animation.’

Historians have a duty to entertain

Last year the pair toured their original multi-period show across the country but for their new show, the focus is defined on a particular period — the Tudors. Sam says, “The Tudor period is just so full of stories and ideas. It presented the ideal opportunity to bring it alive on stage.”

Sam and James don’t just want to entertain audiences but to inspire them to think about the past in a new way and explore the history that they find interesting.

Sam states, “Everyone is a historian. History is something that has happened to all of us. Everyone answers differently when asked what it is that interests them about the past? History is not something that should be done just by professional historians: we want to inspire everyone.

“Having our show in a theatre, in Bournemouth and around the UK, provides us with an ideal channel to meet people and for them to sit back and enjoy this extraordinary show we have created. I believe that the realm for public history is the stage.”

It’s a little bit Unexpected!

Plymouth Festival of Words 2017
Histories of the Unexpected Live with Sam Willis and James Daybell

The show asks questions such as why is the history of shrinking all about the Spanish Armada? Why is the history of oranges all about Tudor spies? What links Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn to windows, bells, and fire? Why is the history of rings all about the death of Elizabeth I? Sam says, “We are introducing a new way for people to explore history — it will change the way that you think about the past …and the present…guaranteed!”

“It is the responsibility of James and myself to liberate the past, to present history in a way that people haven’t seen before and to inspire the audiences that come to our shows to go out and explore the history that fascinates them. It’s all set up for families to explore together and our show is for people from 8 to 108.”

‘We can’t wait to share our ideas with everyone at Shelley Theatre.”

Purchase tickets for the show at Shelley Theatre, 30th Nov, 2019 here!

Buy the Book! Histories of the Unexpected: The Tudors – click here!

Buy the Original Book here!