John Betjeman (1906-84)

He achieved huge success during his lifetime and continues to retain his 'National Treasure' status more than twenty years after his death. He is by a long way the best-selling English poet of the 20th century. His gift for writing light verse, his dazzling technical abilities and his combination of eccentricity and Englishness are all key ingredients in his enduring popularity.

The Best of John Betjeman

Lance tells the story of Betjeman's life through his funny, moving and always interesting poems. Through Betjeman's heartbreaks and triumphs Lance paints a picture of a changing twentieth century England.

Featuring Betjeman's most famous and significant poems including 'Slough', 'A Subaltern's Love Song' (Joan Hunter Dunn), 'Diary of a Church Mouse', 'Hunter Trials' and 'In a Bath Teashop.'

About the performance:

The show is more than just a poetry reading. Betjeman’s poems are lively, funny and lend themselves to a dramatic performance. Each poem in the show tells a story or confronts an issue in a narrative style. So Lance learns each poem and then brings them to life by acting out the ‘story’ using a different voice for each character.

Lance also weaves a narrative about Betjeman’s life in between each poem. He has researched the story behind each poem and sets them in context of Betjeman’s life. The show is therefore a journey through Betjeman’s life and passions.

Lance has performed in a wide variety of venues and the staging of the performance is very flexible, with a minimum of technical requirements, so that it can be performed in any type of space. However for maximum effect Lance has an accompanying PowerPoint presentation which helps set the scene of each poem.

Running Time: The show lasts for two halves of forty minutes, allowing time for an interval. But Lance has also performed the show as an abridged one-hour version.