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Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, and York Theatre Royal, in association with Ensemble, are presenting Hymn to Love – Homage to Piaf by Steve Trafford, directed by Damian Cruden, performed by Elizabeth Mansfield and Patrick Bridgman at Theatre by the Lake, York Theatre Royal, and on tour, from 23 March to the end of April 2018. In July and August 2018 the production will come to the Jermyn Street Theatre, London.

Please click here for updates on venues and for further information.

Ensemble is a member of the Independent Theatre Council and is a Registered Charity.

Patron: Josette Bushell-Mingo OBE

Show CDs

Portraits in Song

Piaf and Brecht sung in English, many in new translations by award winning writer Steve Trafford.

The Greatest Drummer
in the World

Fun workshops, storytelling, drumming rhythms and singing.

...one of British theatre's best solo performers may be putting on old clothes once more, Marie is as fresh, informative, nostalgic, humourous, sad, ghostly, warm and wonderful and full of life and pathos, song and golden history, as it ever was.

Charles Hutchinson

York Evening Press

Review of Marie at the York Theatre Royal Studio. Read more of this review.

Hymn to Love
– Homage to Piaf

In a Manhattan hotel room in New York, Edith Piaf rehearses for her last US concert. But for Piaf the hotel holds memories. More info...

Clara's Gift

Frauenliebe und Leben

Glorious music, ridiculous words! Among contemporary listeners this is the near universal response to Schumann’s famous song cycle. More info...

The Restoration of Nell Gwyn

A new comedy by Steve Trafford
With songs by Henry Purcell

Full of humour and bawdy wit, this new comedy transports us into the wanton world of the English Restoration. King Charles II lies ill, Nell Gwyn, his royal whore, once the brightest star of the Restoration theatre, rages against her fate. More info...

The Uninvited

Songs and Stories of Exile

The Uninvited is a performance tour de force telling the extraordinary stories of refugees and exiles, from all over the world, past and present. More info...

Marie

The Story of Marie Lloyd

The poet T.S. Eliot described Marie Lloyd as: “The greatest music hall artist of all time”. Marie Lloyd lives again in this popular and celebrated show, which features all her famous songs. More info...