Richard Brown


Fern Dickson and Sarah Harding


Fern Dickson and Richard Brown

FIRE! tells the dramatic story of the Great Fire of London

(1666), through the words of Samuel Pepys (clerk to the

Navy Board and diarist) and Jane Birch, his sensible young

housemaid.  They tell of the four days that changed London forever. Find out why the fire spread so quickly, how Londoners tried to stop it, and what the city was like during and after the fire. 


The final scene sees an older Jane Birch in 1710 returning with her grandson to marvel at the newly completed St Paul’s Cathedral. The finale celebrates the regeneration of London under Sir Christopher Wren and his men -- beautiful churches in the latest style, improved sanitation and drainage, wider streets, grand civic buildings and houses made of stone and brick rather than flammable wood.


An imaginative combination of strings, woodwind, brass and percussion, accompanied by a harpsichord, which effectively combines the musical sounds of both the 17th and 21st century.