Julie Hesmondhalgh to star in The Greatest Play In The History Of The World at Trafalgar Studios

Coronation Street and Broadchurch actress Julie Hesmondhalgh stars in one-woman show The Greatest Play In The History Of The World, a story of love and hope that transcends space and time, which comes to London’s West End for the festive season.

Julie Hesmondhaigh in The Greatest Play In The History Of The World. Photo: Jonathan Keenan

This breathtaking Edinburgh Fringe 2018 hit sell-out show ran at Traverse Theatre before transferring back to the Royal Exchange Theatre Studio in September 2018. Performed by multi-award-winning, BAFTA-nominated actress Julie Hesmondhalgh, The Greatest Play in the History of the World takes us on a heartfelt journey that starts and ends in a small, unassuming house on a quiet suburban road. Julie narrates this story of two neighbours and the people on their street, as she navigates us through the nuances of life, the possibilities of science and the meaning of love. 

Written by the actress’s Bruntwood Award-winning writer husband Ian Kershaw (Coronation Street, Cold Feet, Shameless), the production reunites her with award-winning director Raz Shaw who she worked with on the critically-acclaimed production of WIT at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre in 2016. Hesmondhalgh was awarded The Stage Edinburgh Award for her performance.

A man wakes in the middle of the night to discover that the world has stopped. Through the crack in his bedroom curtains, he can see no signs of life at all...other than a light in the house opposite where a woman in an over-sized Bowie T-shirt stands, looking back at him... 

Performer Julie Hesmondhalgh said: "I had a notion, a romantic notion, that my husband, the writer Ian Kershaw, should write a one-woman show for me and we could tour it together into our dotage, like travelling troubadours (or something). A couple of Christmasses ago he kept disappearing to the cellar for an hour at a time, wrapping presents maybe, I thought. And then he presented me with this lovely thing. A beautiful play, a love story, but a universal one (literally!) about learning in time what matters in the end, about leaving a mark on the world (and maybe beyond) that shows us, the human race, in all its glorious messiness, confusion and joy. It was the best present I ever got. In these dark and confusing times, it offers a bit of love and hope. We hope it feels like a present from us to the audiences who come and see it at Trafalgar Studios.”

The Greatest Play In The History Of The World is written by Ian Kershaw, directed by Raz Shaw, designed by Naomi Kuyck-Cohen, lighting by Jack Knowles and sound by Mark Melville.

The Greatest Play In The History Of The World runs at Trafalgar Studios 2 from 26 November 2019 - 4 January 2020.