The Wife of Usher's Well

Jules Horne is an award-winning writer for stage and radio. Past productions include GORGEOUS AVATAR for the Traverse Theatre, LIFE, AN AUDIO TOUR for BBC Radio 4, and LEFT AT THE LIGHTS for BBC Radio Scotland. She lives in the Scottish Borders.

THE WIFE OF USHER’S WELL is a modern retelling of the famous supernatural ballad - the warm and engaging story of a soldier son's supernatural return to his mother for one last night together.

It’s a piece of musical storytelling theatre about a timeless situation, set here in modern times, as mother and son fight to say the things they always meant to say.   Karen is a feisty 40-something who copes with everything life throws at her - including Euan, her wayward 18-year-old son. Maybe his new career will sort him out? Maybe they’ll finally start getting along?   Or maybe now is all the time they have?

As Karen fights to keep the truth from her ghostly son, they relive moments from his childhood, including favourite Border stories: The Wizard’s Apprentice, Thomas the Rhymer, and The Three Craws.  These are retold in different performance styles with music and song by a Quondam’s talented cast of four.