Mayflower

Still available:

MAYFLOWER has been published.

The scripts are bound very handsomely as you can see. If you would like a copy, please pay via bank transfer OR click the button for paypal payment. The cost is just £7 including UK postage. Don't forget to give us your name and address!

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cast member profiles 2022 (click for PDF)

audience feedback 2021

character profiles

Historia presents Kate Glover's new play -

Mayflower

They faced

harassment over the way they wanted to worship
the arrest of their leaders
bullying by Venture Capitalists
sickness and death on board
terrifying storms at sea
heartbreak over the people they had to leave behind
worries over enough food and supplies
no knowledge about what they would find when they got there

As planned, MAYFLOWER got its first public outing on Sunday 22nd November 2020 as a ZOOM performance. Nearly 100 people turned up. Very many thanks to you for coming and also for the generous donations that you have sent.

Our international audience came from the USA, Canada, Australia, France and the UK.

FEEDBACK: We had lots of great feedback and we are also hoping to edit a recording of the show. You can read what others said:

Zoom Chat comments
Email comments

News 5 March 2024

First, we have had very positive feedback from an American living in California - Louis Girling, Jr. Louis bought the MAYFLOWER script, read it and liked it. We then sent him the video of the first performance and this was his comment:

Hurrah and congratulations! I viewed the Zoom production of your play with great interest and enjoyment.
You have brought to life people who seemed merely legendary, courageous or perhaps foolhardy in grammar school histories. Frankly I never gave them much thought, but you and your theater company have painted the pilgrims' loving and sometimes troubled relationships, imperatives of faith, and social anxieties in so poignant and transparent a manner that I feel I know and begin to love them.
Thank you so much for sharing this experience with me. It’s quite an impressive accomplishment, and your premier on Zoom has made a history of its own!

Secondly, we have plans afoot for a new production of a different play in November. Watch this space to be the first to know !

News 10 February 2022

Hot off the press:

Historia Theatre Company will be heading to the Hen & Chickens Theatre in London this summer. For three weeks in May and June you'll have the chance to see MAYFLOWER between Tuesday and Saturday evening plus there'll be a matinee show on Saturdays. Concessions available. See link above to book your tickets.

News 12 November 2021

The Islington Tribune has published an article about our play. If you haven't booked your tickets yet, maybe bring some young enthusiasts along?

Read the article: http://islingtontribune.com/article/theatre-charity-brings-history-to-life-for-pupils

News 15 October 2021

AND WE ARE BACK FOR MORE PERFORMANCES NEXT MONTH - on stage and with an audience!!

Following the great success of the premiere on Zoom in 2020, we have now scheduled more performances.

THE STORY: It is the story of determined men and women who wished to worship in their own way. They faced huge odds including bullying by the Venture Capitalists of the day, sickness and death on board, leaking ships, terrifying storms at sea, and personal heartbreak. And what would they find when they got there?

News 5 September 2020

SAVE THE DATE !!

We are sad to announce that our run at the OSO Theatre has had to be cancelled on account of the pandemic. But we are also delighted to announce that we will be having a rehearsed reading of MAYFLOWER: THEY KNEW THEY WERE PILGRIMS on 22nd November 2020. The performance by eight professional actors will be directed by Kenneth Michaels. It will be an afternoon matinee. Exact time to be confirmed.

This means that we will be commemorating the arrival of the Pilgrims off the coast of Connecticut almost exactly 400 years to the day.

The performance will take place at ALL HALLOWS CHURCH BY THE TOWER

Byward Street, London EC3R 5BJ

https://www.ahbtt.org.uk/

More details to follow

News 9 May 2020

Some more comments from John Mustain (until recently Rare Books Curator at Stanford University):

1. Differences of opinion within the Winslow family: At the beginning of the play, we witness a conversation between a young Edward Winslow (destined to become one of the most prominent of the Pilgrims) and his mother.

Mustain comments:What a nice and nuanced dialogue you have between the Winslows, mother and son. Her plaintive query "Why can't you just accept the articles of the Church of England? Lots of people have reservations, but they just get on with life." This really highlights the price paid for being a Separatist. I, for one, would have followed Mrs. Winslow!

2. The pain of separation from loved ones: Some families were forced to leave young children behind.

Mustain comments: Another wonderful touch: the huge price of leaving an infant behind, as not safe to travel. And the consolation: that when the child was older, he could come on a voyage to the New World. But what a sacrifice for a parent! And there are other issues implied here: 1) the trip is too challenging for an infant and 2) trips are common enough for anyone of the proper age: there were a great many trips between Europe and the new world each year (this still surprises me!), but makes sense.

News (26 April 2020)

We have had some very generous comments from two ex librarians of Stanford University.

They say: Kate, I started your play and was hooked by the second page. They did actually finish it; they particularly liked (sorry, plot spoiler here,) the end when the ship has arrived off the coast of what is now Connecticut, and all the men are asked to sign an agreement laying out certain rules by which the new settlement will be organised.

They say: I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it, Kate. I have to admit: I was a bit sorry to see it end. I mean that. The way you worked in the signing of The Mayflower Compact was beyond marvellous ---I was very, very moved. This was a huge moment in our history (we were still colonies), that an Englishman would come up with an idea such as this, and that signatures really sealed the deal --- what a triumph of democracy in its being done by folks on a ship on a very daring mission. Not democratic in excluding women, of course --- but a huge achievement, so modestly begun and finished. It is overlooked, I think, in our history --- Englishmen and their concept of law and justice, and its being bound by signature. Some few textbooks include it among the important documents of our history, but it really is --- and written and signed long before the more famous 18th-c. documents.

Next we would like to share with you a wonderful story, courtesy of the Haberdashers Company who have so generously supported many of our past productions. Their archivist tells us that they have an illustrious former member called RICHARD ANDREWES with links to the Mayflower. It transpires that Andrewes was one of the so called Merchant Adventurers who sponsored the voyage of the Mayflower. And he wasn't in it just for the potential profit. He himself sailed to America in 1622, and lived the rest of his life there!

For this reason, we are doing a special performance of the play in the Great Hall of the Haberdashers Company on September 17th (Pandemic permitting). We will bring you more information about this exciting evening as events unfold.

PAST PERFORMANCES

30 November 2021 - 7:30 pm (evening)

The Dutch Church

7 Austin Friars, London EC2N 2HA

21 November 2021 - 2:30 pm (matinee)

All Hallows By the Tower

Byward St, London EC3R 5BJ

20 November 2021 - 3:00 pm (matinee)

Highbury Baptist Church

40 Highbury Pl, London N5 1QL

18 November 2021 - 7:30 pm

Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church

235 Shaftesbury Ave, London WC2H 8EP

22 November 2020 - 7:30 pm (GMT)

We are delighted to announce that the script in hand performance, planned for 22nd November at ALL HALLOWS BY THE TOWER, will (thanks to modern technology) still go ahead despite lockdown, with the same talented and professional cast of nine actors.

CANCELLED

17th - 21th November evening

also matinee on 21th November (Saturday)

at OSO COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE in Barnes

Synopsis

ACT ONE

The play begins in London with Edward Winslow explaining to his mother why he has to abandon his apprenticeship as a printer in London, and go off to Leiden, in Holland. His religious views, essentially, Puritan, make it impossible to stay in England any longer. The scene shifts to Leiden. We meet John Robinson, minister of the Separatist congregation there, along with William Brewster, who runs the Brewster Press publishing Puritan literature. Essentially he has just been "busted". His premises are being broken into by soldiers. He has to flee. Edward Winslow who works with him is less vulnerable. His wife Elizabeth confides to Pastor Robinson that she really does not want to go to the New World - which is what they are all planning.

In the Winslows' Leiden home, we have a tense conversation between Elizabeth and Edward; he simply can't understand why she does not want to go. William Bradford enters to tell them that things are proceeding with negotiations with the "Merchant Adventurers" - the venture capitalists of their day - to fund their voyage to America. He asks the Winslows (who have to go to England anyway to settle an inheritance question) to contact a man called Thomas Weston who is representing the Merchant Adventurers. He admits his own wife Dorothy is also reluctant to leave Leiden as it will mean leaving their two year old son behind.

In England, the Winslows meet the superficially trustworthy Weston who explains that the Merchant adventurers are intending to form a sort of joint stock company for the settlement in Virginia. The pilgrims would each be given a share worth ten pounds. In return, they work four days a week for the Merchant Adventurers leaving two days to work on their own farms. At the end of seven years, if all goes well, the Pilgrims will all own their own houses. Elizabeth remains dubious.

Back in the Winslows' house in Leiden, there is a planning meeting going on. They have news from their agent in London that Thomas Weston had turned nasty and is demanding that the Pilgrims now work six days out of six for the Merchant Adventurers. All agree that they cannot sign this contract (which has, however, been irresponsibly signed by the London agent). Another problem is that Weston has not found a ship for them. Bradford offers to source one, helped by those members of the Congregation who have shipping experience. The idea is to sail to Southampton where they will meet the "Strangers" recruited by the Adventurers to join them in the trip. Robinson breaks the news that he cannot go with them to Virginia as he needs to look after the remaining Separatists in Leiden. He insists that Elder Brewster will be more than competent to look after them.

In the final scene of Act One, there is an emotional scene in Delftshaven Holland. Dorothy Bradford is grief stricken about leaving her baby son behind. Pastor Robinson preaches an emotional sermon before falling on his knees, with tears streaming down his cheeks, as the ship Speedwell leaves the docks.

ACT TWO

In Act Two, we meet Captain Jones of the Mayflower which is still moored in Rotherhithe. We also meet the bullying Henry Martin who has been buying food and supplies on behalf of the Merchant Adventurers (but refusing to co-operate with the Pilgrims). We also meet two of the so called strangers - Stephen Hopkins, a mature man who spent five years in Jamestown, and John Billington, father of two uncontrollable teenage sons.

The Speedwell and the Mayflower arrive in Southampton. There is a tense meeting between Bradford and Weston. Bradford refuses to sign the contract negotiated by Weston, who walks off angrily. This means they are short of funds and are forced to sell some of their precious food supplies from Holland. However Weston does persuade a horrified Bradford to take care of the four More children. Aged between 4 and 7, they have been consigned by their father Samuel for transportation to the New World after the alleged infidelity of their mother. A few days later William Brewster and his wife Mary turn up after spending the last few months on the run. The ships depart from Southampton, but are forced to put into Dartmouth as the Speedwell is leaking. Both ships leave Dartmouth after a week, but two hundred miles away from Lands End, they are forced to turn back again because of the leaking Speedwell. In Plymouth, they realise it is too risky to sail the Speedwell again. Everyone is squashed onto the Mayflower and indeed some of the Pilgrims have to stand down. They leave Plymouth very late in the season on 16th September.

Whilst on board the Pilgrims gather for religious services, often singing Psalm 107. But conditions are made worse by the taunting of an unpleasant sailor and by the fetid atmosphere between decks. The weather turns nasty in mid October. They arrive off Cape Cod in early November, but Jones is asked to turn the ship South towards the Hudson river. It is here where they have patents to the land. As he does so, the ship gets caught up in appalling tides and breakers, and Jones is forced to turn the ship back North towards Cape Cod again. They anchor off Cape Cod on November 21st. Just before they disembark, Bradford and Brewster make sure that all the men have signed the MAYFLOWER COMPACT which provides agreement among them regarding the establishment of the new settlement.

The play ends as the Pilgrims begin to disembark, after the singing of Psalm 107.