Join us for this special performance of The Witness on the Easter weekend.

This special performance will be within the walls of The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Northampton, founded in 1100AD. We have chosen to perform the piece in the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday as it marks a pivotal period in Mary Magdalene's story. We do hope you can join us on this special evening. 

We are also delighted to be live-streaming the performance online for those of you further away - please select a 'live-stream' ticket. This will give you access to the stream but also to the recording for a period of 3 months so you can either watch again or a time more convenient to you.

About the show

His story became History. Her story became Heresy.

The sacred and profane collide in a new performance by interdisciplinary artist Jo Blake, inspired by the Gospel of Mary Magdalene. Three copies of the gospel have been found – all of them with missing pages. As the only gospel written in the name of a woman, it reveals Mary Magdalene as a most formidable and courageous spiritual leader, confidante and companion of Christ.

Moving through humour, bold physicality and intricate storytelling; The Witness reveals how one woman’s 2000 year old testimony comes clattering into the life of a contemporary woman, initiating a reckoning and demanding that the missing pages be written anew.

The production and wider project is supported by The Kenneth Foundation, Northamptonshire Community Foundation, and using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Creative Team

Jo Blake is an interdisciplinary performance maker whose practice sits at the intersection of storytelling, dance and theatre. Like many freelancers in the arts, she wears many hats: performer, director, facilitator, teacher, administrator and curator. She is curious about the transformative power of embodied myth, and acts of narration as cultural therapeutics. Jo has a PhD in Emergent Storytelling Practices from the University of Chichester, an MA with Distinction in Dance Theatre from Trinity Laban and a First Class BA (Hons) in Performing Arts from the University of Winchester.

In 2009, Jo was nominated for an Arts Foundation Fellowship Award for Storytelling. In 2019, she founded a 6-month long contemporary storytelling training course called Body, Breath and Story, which ran for two years, before being interrupted by the pandemic.

Performers: Jo Blake and Robert Clark

Director: Jo Blake

Movement Director: Ben Duke

Lead Dramaturg: Lootie Johansen-Bibby

Visiting Dramaturg: Sheila Ghelani

Collaborative Devisor: Georgia Tillery-Randak

Designer: Ruth Stringer

Lighting Designer: Adi Currie

Sound Designer: Patch Middleton

Producer: Courtenay Johnson for Carbon Theatre

Production Manager: Fiona Scott Lockyer

Stage Manager: Emma Drostby

More information:

The performance will begin at 7.30pm, with doors opening at 7pm. 

There is a small car-park on site but we recommending parking in one of the Pay and Display Car Parks very close by.

There will be some light refreshments, and there are toilets in the adjacent community centre building.

The church has stair-free access - if you have any access requirements, please do get in touch to let us know how we can make your visit possible and pleasant.

Any problems or questions, please contact Courtenay on courtenay@carbontheatre.org.uk.