Event Description
This remarkable new production allows audiences to experience the music and legacy of Sir Edward Elgar through a powerful and unexpected lens.
Elgar at the Asylum is a promenade performance that moves between multiple spaces at Malvern Theatres – cinema, studio, foyers and gallery – turning the whole complex into an immersive experience. It takes inspiration from Elgar’s early career as a composer, when he was commissioned to write music for patients at the Worcester County Pauper and Lunatic Asylum, later called Powick Hospital. This formative but often overlooked chapter becomes the starting point for a bold and moving reimagining.
Created by The Monday Night Club in collaboration with C&T and a host of artistic collaborators including Dancefest and Vamos Theatre, the production places learning disabled artists at its centre. Their perspectives reshape Elgar’s story through performance, music, and contemporary storytelling, exploring themes of identity, care, and creative voice.
Built through an ambitious process of co-creation, the work balances reverence with innovation. It honours the emotional depth of Elgar’s music while opening new interpretations of cultural heritage, asking who has the right to tell these stories. Visually striking and emotionally resonant, Elgar at the Asylum offers a special opportunity to experience a familiar figure anew. It is both a tribute and a provocation, helping audiences to listen differently, and to recognise the richness of voices too often unheard.
Suitable for ages 15+: includes options for audiences to choose to access archival film footage and historical content from the asylum system.
Show times
Saturday 26 September 2026: 11.30am, 12.15pm, 1pm
Sunday 27 September 2026: 2pm, 2.45pm, 3.30pm
Tickets
£5.60 (including booking fee) – available via the Malvern Theatres website
