Buxton International Festival and Norwich Theatre launch a ground-breaking new co-production for 2023, ‘The Land of Might-Have-Been’. This bold new musical is built around the songs of Ivor Novello and is loosely based on incidents in the life of Buxton’s pioneering feminist and pacifist Vera Brittain and the intriguing lives, loves and motivations of those closest to her.
Return to the halcyon days of that long-ago perfect summer where ragtime was sweeping through every ballroom; where debutante balls were the Tinder of today and chaperones were the curse of every young woman in love; where the call of King and Country stirred the imagination of young men everywhere and the power of love kept hope alive in the darkest of times.
The story follows Vera and her soon-to-be fiancé Roland, and Vera’s brother Edward and their close friend Bobbie over a long hot summer in Buxton in 1914. They all have their own ideas about their glittering futures but are faced with the prejudice and conventions of their time.
