Winston On the Run is a new one-man show about Winston Churchill's formative early years - when he was thin, dashing, and full of youthful beans. We will be previewing the show in Colchester, Buxton, Ellesmere Port and Jersey before taking it up to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. Our aim is to generate enough critical buzz around the show to take it on a national tour in 2013. 

 

Who are we?

The show is being created by writer and performer FREDDIE MACHIN and director JOHN WALTON.  Freddie's previous creation '12 Miles from Nowhere' has just been nominated for the 2012 Writer's Guild of Great Britain Best Play Award and John's credits include the English-language premiere of Yukio Mishima's 'Yoroboshi' and the 2010 hit Dr Brown Because (four stars in The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent and TimeOut). Set, costume and lighting will be by the Off-West End Award winning designer MARTIN THOMAS, and sound and music will be by HARRI CHAMBERS. Our wonderful associate producer is KATIE COLLIER, and our Edinburgh marketing manager is LIZZIE TREACY.

 

About the show

It’s 1899 and escaped prisoner-of-war Churchill is on the run. Wanted dead or alive, he traverses the vast South African savannah, taking cover at the bottom of a deep mineshaft. But with nothing but rats for company, the young Winston’s mind quickly sinks into paranoia and despair. As the moment for a fresh break approaches his sanity teeters on the brink.What will await him at the surface - freedom or capture? Fame or disgrace? Triumph or disaster?

We want to tell the inspiring story of Winston Churchill's formative early years, focusing on his escape from a Boer prison-camp. Despite being voted ‘greatest Briton of all time’ in a BBC poll, surprisingly little is known about these youthful adventures - but they were crucial to his future success. Not only did they catapult him to international fame, but they forced him to battle both a dangerous foreign power and his own black-dog of despair. In learning to 'never surrender', he began his ascent towards political greatness.

 

Why we need your help

We believe we have a great story to put on stage, but we need your help to get it there. Mounting a show like this is an expensive undertaking. As well as paying for the venue itself we need to cover the costs of transport, accommodation, publicity, insurance, set & costume, lighting... the list goes on and on! We receive no public subsidy, and so are wholly reliant on the box-office and the generosity of people like you to make Winston On the Run happen.

The total cost of our venue hire alone at Edinburgh is a whopping £2700! We are looking to raise £1500 on Sponsume to go towards this. Not only will we keep every sponsor fully informed about the play's progress, but we've put together a wide range of ways that you can benefit from your gift. These range from getting your name on our website, to having a five-minute radio play written and performed by us - or even having a private showing of Winston On the Run! The truth is though that whatever you can donate will make a huge difference, and we cannot express our gratitude enough for every pound that you want to help us with.

From all the team, a massive thank you!