15 March 2022
By Göran R Buckhorn
Good news comes from England. Actor Jamie Brown will once again put on his rowing kit and step up on the stage to pull an oar as Harry Clasper (1812-1870) in Ed Waugh’s brilliant play Hadaway Harry.
In 2017, HTBS’s Chris Dodd was impressed by Jamie Brown’s portrayal of boatbuilder and professional oarsman Harry Clasper. Dodd wrote about Brown: “He is a solo tour-de-force, bringing the rawness of the working class life in Newcastle and the relentless training round the clock to life. When it comes to racing the London Championship Course of 4 1/4 miles from Putney to Mortlake, he has you on the edge of your seat…”
And equally “oar-struck” was HTBS’s Greg Denieffe.
Ed Waugh’s play about one of the Victorian era’s greatest rowers is a moving and humorous story how working-class lad Harry reached the highest point in the sport of rowing as the World Champion. When he died in July 1870, 130,000 people lined the streets of Newcastle to pay their respects at his funeral.
Here are some voices after Brown had performed Hadaway Harry in 2015 and at London Rowing Club in 2017 (where the play will return on 14 and 15 June 2022):
This is the third time Jamie Brown returns for his one man show, which will be played in the following places:
31 May Newcastle
1 June Newcastle
3 June Alnwick
5 June Durham
12 June Gateshead
14 June Putney
15 June Putney
17 June Hexham
19 June South Shields
See where Hadaway Harry will be staged and times – and book your tickets here.
Read more about Hadaway Harry here.