"After a week of researching I knew exactly what I was going to do," says Nicola Haydn. "I would start with Mercedes Benz and end with Little Girl Blue."
First performed in October 2000, on the 30th anniversary of Janis Joplin's death, this acclaimed one-woman play seizes on the theatrical promise of the singer's last conscious moments on the night she died at Los Angeles' Landmark Hotel. What could have gone through her mind as her life flashed before her eyes?
Haydn, the writer and performer, has been delighted by the play's power to transform reticent theatre audiences into emphatic rock fans. But, though she spent a year learning the guitar part for a version of Me And Bobby McGee, she emphasises that this is "not a musical".
"I want to show her emotional ugliness," says Haydn. "I really don't want the audience to come out thinking, 'Janis Joplin was so lovely, bless!' I want people to go, 'f****** hell, what a difficult lady!"
Starts at 8pm. Tickets cost £7/£5, call 07782 278521.
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