Nell Gwynn at Auckland Theatre Company

LONDON, 1660. The drab, grey Puritans have gone and theatre is all the rage once more. There's a new fad for putting a woman, an 'actor-ess', on the stage and when The King's Company at Drury Lane casts the pretty, witty orange seller Nell Gwynn as its first leading lady, its royal patron, Charles II, is immediately smitten. Having captured the heart of her King, the unlikely heroine takes her country by storm and becomes a 17th century media sensation.

Winner of the 2016 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, Jessica Swale's brilliant and bodacious new work about theatre's most legendary love affair is a love-letter to theatre itself and the cheerful chaos involved in putting on a play. Hot on the heels of its original Globe Theatre premiere and successful West End remount, Nell Gwynn is a radiant, ravishing and rollicking celebration of history and the heart.

Authors

• Jessica Swale