Past event
Date:
30-31 May 2014
The first two Letters Live events to be held at the Hay Festival were spontaneous and packed affairs. When tickets for the first event went on sale and it was announced that Benedict Cumberbatch would be appearing at Hay for the first time, the show sold out in less than half an hour and a second Letters Live date was announced for that same weekend. Both events were a triumph and featured a fantastic array of talent.
The letters read across those two shows included classics written by Richard Avedon, Richard Burton, Frederic Chopin, Iggy Pop, Elvis Presley, William Safire, Matt Stone, Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Eudora Welty, EB White and Virginia Woolf. It also saw the first performance by Cumberbatch and his Sherlock co-star Louise Brealey of the much-loved correspondence between Chris Barker and Bessie Moore.
(Click dates to expand/collapse)
Like a Mighty River
Ted Hughes to His Son
Chris and Bessie
I Like Words
Robert Pirosh to Various
WW1 letter
Stanley Berger to His Father
Sex Does Not Thrive on Monotony
Anaïs Nin to The Collector
You Must know Again my reluctance to marry
Amelia Earhart
Federal Agent at Large
Elvis Presley
For the Sake of Humanity
Gandhi
Patrick Hitler to Roosevelt
part of
I Stand Astounded and Appalled
Charles Dickens
Ought Women Not Be Abolished
Clementine Churchill to The Times
In Event of Moon disaster
William Safire
Hang on My Love and Grow Strong
Iggy Pop to Laurence
I Am Very Real
Kurt Vonnegut to Charles McCarthy
Chris and Bessie
An Idiot of the 33rd Degree
Mark Twain
Chopin to His Father
We all feel like that now and then
Sir Archibald Kerr
How could you go ahead of me?
A Widow to Eung-Tae Lee
I Can’t Fight Any Longer
Virginia Woolf
How I would like to work for you!
Eudora Welty
This is my Favourite Memo Ever
Matt Stone
You’re off By God
Richard Burton
Chopin piece
(Click images to expand)
