Teddy & Topsy- Isadora Duncan’s Love Letters to Gordon Craig

This is a one-woman show performed by Australian Nellie McQuinn, told through letters and telegrams sent from Isadora Duncan sends to her lover, theatre director Edward Gordon Craig (voiced by Hugh Bonneville). It tells a tale of a fragile, tempestuous and rather archetypal dancer revelling in the extremes of emotion brought about by a relationship over a long term.

The heavily researched story comes across lightly, as we see a woman struggling with the tensions of travelling around Europe to dance, whilst trying to fulfil the ladylike role expected of her in the early 20th century. Telling lines from the letters (“I’m nothing but a silly old dancing dervish”) are interspersed with solo dancing to piano music. McQuinn brings us a portrayal of a delightful, optimistic character facing both real and perceived tragedy.

– Caroline Pearce