AT WITHAM: Actor Mark Farrelly transformed into iconic actor Quentin Crisp in his solo show Naked Hope
AT WITHAM: Actor Mark Farrelly transformed into iconic actor Quentin Crisp in his solo show Naked Hope

SHEFFIELD-born actor Mark Farrelly will be channelling the spirit of Quentin Crisp – the legendary English writer, raconteur and actor – when he performs his solo show: Quentin Crisp: Naked Hope at The Witham, in Barnard Castle on Friday, October 15.

The show, written and performed by Mr Farrelly was originally debuted to rave reviews at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival. It transferred to a run at the St James’s Theatre in London and has toured the UK ever since.

The highly acclaimed show depicts two distinct phases of the life of Crisp who was openly gay as early as the 1930s and spent decades being beaten up on London’s streets for his refusal to be anything less than himself.

The show’s first part sees Crisp alone in his Chelsea flat in the 1960s and surveys a lifetime of degradation and rejection of a man ostracised simply for daring to live life on his own terms.

The audience is then transported to New York 30 years later when the much older Crisp is finally embraced by society.

The show opens at The Witham at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £12 for adults and £10 for under-16s. To purchase ring the box office on 01833 631107 or email info@the

witham.org.uk.