Michael Morpurgo

Michael Morpurgo author of War Horse,Kensuke’s Kingdom,Private Peaceful and The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, among many others, is joined by actress Alison Reid, violinist Daniel Pioro and The Storyteller’s Ensemble to perform The Mozart Question. Together they interweave words and music, to tell his haunting tale of survival against the odds, set against the background of the Holocaust. Adapted and directed by Simon Reade.

Michael Morpurgo’s stories move from happiness and joy to human catastrophe in an inkling. He tells his tales through the eyes of adults and the eyes of a child – often one and the same, simultaneously. His writing is intensely dramatic, his characters endure extraordinary psychological journeys, and he is unflinching in his pursuit of emotional truth. This, combined with characteristic exuberance and joie de vivre, is what makes his work so theatrical.

The Mozart Question is about a performer, a musician, so it’s appropriate to take the story from the intimacy of its relationship with one reader and expose it to the shared experience of an audience. We all bear collective witness to this powerful story: to a Europe devastated by war, to the ties that bind parents and their children, and to the sublime redemption offered by exquisite classical music.