"The Smell of Burning Flesh..."

Press Release

xford. 14th - 18th May 2002. Mid summer term. High tourist season. Broad Street; the heart of the historic city centre. Closed.

hy? For the world premiere of a new and controversial play about the most famous martyrs of the Reformation.

hy must the play open on Broad Street? On this very spot, the Oxford Martyrs, (Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer) were burnt alive before a desperate crowd. Here on Broad Street, the smell of burning flesh burst through the windows of Balliol College. This May, for the first time in history, the Oxford martyrs will be commemorated at the actual site of their deaths.

wo students at Trinity College, James Mumford and Oliver Marre, have spent the last year and a half securing the generous permission of Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford City Council, Oxford Police Department, Oxford Fire Services and the Oxford colleges to close Broad Street. The play is a highlight of the Oxford year.

eneath the layers of history lies a human drama as gripping as any this country has ever seen. Written by James Mumford and Patrick Malone, Play The Man tells of the struggles of politics, family and faith of the Oxford martyrs, the men quickly eulogised in English popular culture as the 'three blind mice'.

Play The Man: 14th - 18th May 2002
Box office: Phone - +44 (0) 1865 305 305; Oxford Playhouse box office website
Marketing team: +44 (0) 7957 473 821
Further Information: +44 (0) 7789 727 189
A Trinity Players Production