Guy Fawkes Mother
Gleowit Productions
Embedded Files
1612, King James of Scotland sits safely on the throne of England and the Gunpowder Treason Plotters have long since been executed. Everyone in the Kingdom celebrates November 5th. The day that remembers how King and Parliament narrowly escaped the infamous plot of 1605. Everyone celebrates by lighting bonfires, ringing bells and listening to special sermons.
Except one woman. What did Guy Fawkes’ mother feel?
Previous performances at Hastings Fringe, Brighton Fringe, Battle Almonary, London (Theatre Deli), Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Skipton Little Theatre, Leyburn Arts Centre, Hailsham Community Centre
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
Stables Theatre HASTINGS Sunday 9th November 2025
The Talbot Hotel OUNDLE 11th November 2025
Beccles Public Hall and Theatre 20th May 2026
https://www.becclespublichall.co.uk/
England is a nation divided. One half of the population treats the other with loathing. There has been an act of terrorism that has shaken the nation. In the turmoil the lone voice of the middle aged woman is unheard and ignored. One woman has a story to tell, the mother of the most famous terrorist in England.
Echoing the divided nation of Brexit Britain, one woman embodies the hurt of the nation through the execution of her son. She is a minority, a woman, middle aged and Roman Catholic. Who would want to hear what she has to say?
Written and performed by Rose Bruford graduate Heather Leech Guy Fawke’s Mother has a running time of just under an hour. Based on real characters and facts it traces Guy Fawke’s mother's anguish as a woman a mother and an outlawed Roman Catholic at a time of national turmoil.
a magical performance.”
“Bravo! On both counts . . . a stunning performance of a magnificent piece.”
“What a wonderful evening educational , entertaining, and awesome. Heather you were brilliant. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.”
“Amazing evening,”
“I can thoroughly recommend this”
“Yes Heather was amazing I was captivated by her performance, real feelings and great characterisation”
Poster design https://www.stephenrobertspratt.com/
Photography https://aspectstudio.co.uk/
Heather speaks about why she wrote the play
Heather speaks about why she wrote the play
It was wonderful!
Believable as his mother
Brilliant!
This really put Bonfire Night in context
Factual and emotional
Enlightening and sympathetic to minorities
I really enjoyed Heather's performance, I am amazed how she remembered all her lines, I enjoy history so it was great to learn something new.
the actress was superb in the part. What a memory!
was very impressed with Heather Leech. It took some doing to present a monologue like that,and her voice carried well, and as far as I am concerned she is to be commended. I did look her and Keith up on the internet after the meeting and it is great to have some local talent.
I so enjoyed the visit yesterday from Guy Fawkes' mother, it certainly gave me a different perspective on that period of our history, and looking around me and speaking to those nearest me we were all mesmerised by her performance.
Based in Hastings, Sussex Gleowit Productions is husband and wife team Heather and Keith Leech who have together many years’ experience in theatre, street performance and community events ,
The play can also be performed with an introductory talk and q and a session.
The real Guy Fawkes?
The real Guy Fawkes?
Guy Fawkes’ Mother: Joseph Rowntree Theatre October 2024
History, eh? Depends whose eyes you see it through. There’s the arch-baddie plotting to blow up king and parliament, immortalised as a villain for centuries in fireworks and flames. And here’s the sensitive, intelligent son, a voracious reader with beautiful handwriting, defending the faith of his fathers. Well, his stepfather, anyway.
And what’s the worst thing he did in the eyes of his mother? Change his name to Guido while fighting for Spain in the Netherlands. This is the history we see in this compelling one woman show, researched and written and performed by Heather Leech. It’s a totally different and microcosmic perspective on a fascinating period of English history, the legacy of the Reformation, of Henry VIII’s break from the Catholic church so he could marry Anne Boleyn. And we all know what happened to her.
The persecution of Catholics persisted (until 1829. Yes, it was illegal to be a Catholic until then) and was at its most draconian under James I, he whom the gunpowder plotters wanted rid of. Edith Fawkes, reminiscing here as autumn draws in and with it the anniversary of her beloved son’s death, tells it all in a domestic setting. Her two marriages, the second after she was widowed. Her other children. And the most famous is just “my son”, not named until near the end.
It gives us a glimpse of life when religion and politics were inseparable, when people were fined for not going to church, when Catholics maintained their faith, their beliefs, not just in private but in secret. And it’s particularly poignant here, in this lovely little art-deco York theatre, just a mile away from the Clifton estate owned (and sold, to pay those fines) by the Fawkes family, and within bell-ringing distance of the brooding Minster in whose shadow Edith lived.
It’s a credit to the team at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre who offer an ambitious programme of concerts, drama and touring productions, and to Gleowit Productions who have brought this show from Hastings in Sussex. It’s on again tonight (Friday) at the Skipton Little Theatre and tomorrow at Leyburn Arts Centre (Saturday 26th.)
And November 5? There are still firework displays at this time of the year, but as a national event, a “celebration”, it’s been superseded by the bizarre fascination of Hallowe’en and its ghastly American trick or treat import. Remember, remember a mother’s grief instead.
Eileen Jones
https://stageylady.wordpress.com/2024/10/25/the-real-guy-fawkes/
October 2024 Skipton Little Theatre
This is just a short note of thanks for the excellent production of 'Guy Fawkes' Mother' that you gave us in Skipton last night. Those who did not come to the Little Theatre missed a real treat!
I found it by turn moving, thought provoking and educative. Even though I'm a child of the 50's/60's and so had Bonfire Night in my cultural landscape, to my shame I knew little beyond the foiled plot and vilification of the protagonists. Thanks to you, I now know how much more turbulent and divisive a time it was. The context setting opening section was very helpful and the comparison to Brexit really resonated with me, returning to my thoughts frequently as the play unfolded.
I wish you every, and continued success with this little gem of a play that deserves the plaudits you are hopefully receiving.
November 2024 Hailsham Community Centre
Heather Leech’s performance of her self-penned play, “Guy Fawkes’ Mother” held our WI group in thrall as we were transported back in time and space to the home of Edith, a middle-aged woman mourning the loss of her son, and reflecting on the chain of circumstances which led to his death.
The play, which begins as Edith returns home from church, tells us of the difficulties she and other Catholics faced as England veered from Catholicism to Protestantism under Mary and Elizabeth Tudor, and the deep disappointment they experienced when James 1 failed to reinstate Catholicism. In a country divided along religious lines, where mere suspicion could lead to a death sentence, Edith must negotiate a path of safety for herself and her children, outwardly professing to support the religion of the day whilst at the same time maintaining her loyalty to the Pope.
In a virtuoso performance, Heather gives us glimpses into Edith’s first and second marriages, allowing us to hear the words of her two husbands, the first a Protestant, the second a Catholic. We see her tender relationship with her beloved only son when he was a small boy, and her pride in his learning: unable to read herself, she treasures a letter which he wrote to her. We learn of her horror, anger and grief at the way he was tortured and executed and understand how difficult the years after his death were, when, as others prepared to celebrate the birth of Christ each December, she must endure the constant reminders of the loss of her own son and reminders of the horrors he experienced prior to his death.
At its heart, this play is about the struggle of one woman to survive in a world over which she has little or no control, something to which so many of us can relate. Heather’s performance is mesmerising, bringing Edith to life as she speaks to us across the centuries.
Judith Hawth
Review. August 2018
Recent Talk on the Gunpowder Plot
Recent Talk on the Gunpowder Plot
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