Miss Brawne

Back when I was in University I had the chance to perform on BBC Radio Solent as part of the Keats Bicentenary production that was put on that year. It was the beginning of a lot of opportunities for me that led to more interviews and my work as a freelance playwright. I performed this piece at open mic poetry nights as well as on the Winchester Theatre stage for the production, and - as you can find in the link below - on the radio as well.

I was not a very confident teenager, a lot had happened which had made me feel uncomfortable in my own skin. So I found myself through writing, in writing no one had to see my face, my body or any of my problems. It was all about the character, whichever character it was that I wanted to conjure. And through the opportunities I received in doing this performing project, I found not just who I was as a writer but who I wanted to be as a person. Resulting in better work and a better me.

The piece was inspired by watching Bright Star, the film about Keats and Miss Browne’s tragic relationship. I have always been romantic at heart, (though I’d hate to admit it!) so I sat down when I saw the brief for the project and came up with this piece:

Upon these pages where pen and paper meet, i have defied the rules of time amd age so my heart shall forever beat. From Wessex to Rome, King Alfred's seat to the Pope's, within such cobbled ruins I have made my home. Yet do not look for me in these streets I do not linger there. When the butterfly dies and the nightingale sings, in these Miss Brawne, in these I live forever.