The Score

From Thursday 20 February to Saturday 26 April 2025, Theatre Royal Haymarket will play host to legendary stage and screen actor Brian Cox (HBO’s multi-award-winning Succession) who will star as Johann Sebastian Bach alongside Nicole Ansari-Cox as Bach’s wife Anna in Oliver Cotton’s new play The Score, directed by Trevor Nunn, which was originally presented at Theatre Royal Bath in Autumn 2023.

Spring 1747, Potsdam, Prussia. Johann Sebastian Bach reluctantly visits the court of Frederick II, Europe’s most ambitious and dangerous leader. The two men could hardly be more different. As the Age of Enlightenment dawns, they stand in opposite camps. Bach is deeply religious, Frederick is an atheist. Bach loathes war, Frederick revels in it. Bach studies scripture, Frederick reads military history. Frederick remains in awe of Bach’s genius however and has mischievously prepared a musical conundrum that he hopes will baffle the composer and amuse his court. The explosive events of the following days could not have been predicted by either man.