James Rowland’s Songs of the Heart Trilogy

Celebrated theatremaker James Rowland is embarking on a massive 50+ date UK tour of his critically acclaimed Songs of the Heart Trilogy, performing in Devon at Exeter Phoenix and at the Theatre Royal Plymouth Drum.

Straight off the back of another sold out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which included his 100th show in Summerhall’s Anatomy Lecture Theatre, James Rowland is embarking on his biggest tour to date. From January - May 2025, he will be performing his critically acclaimed Songs of the Heart Trilogy of shows across the country.

From Essex to Edinburgh, from village to vaudeville, James will perform his second trilogy of storytelling shows, following life through its journey from youth, to middle age, and to our own mortality: Learning to Fly, Piece of Work, and finally, James Rowland Dies at the End of the Show. Each a remarkable hour of theatre, each a captivating mix of storytelling, comedy and music; and each sees James strain every sinew to keep the audience completely rapt.

What would you do with an hour? What if it was your last hour ever? For James the answer is easy: he wants to tell you a story.

Premiering at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022, Learning to Fly sees James recount his adolescence, his struggle with illness, and the unlikely friendship he forges with an elderly lady once feared by the local kids. It’s a joyous show about love’s eternal struggle with time, music’s ability to heal, and his friend’s last wish: to get high once before she died.

Piece of Work (2023) finds James between youth and old age; in between birth and death. Creating a new show while trying to understand what and where home really is. Using nothing but words, a few handmade maps and Shakespeare’s Hamlet, James paints a picture of our country in all of its beauty, pain, and kindness in a heart-rending hour of theatre.

Premiering last year, James Rowland Dies at the End of the Show is the third and final part of the Songs of the Heart Trilogy, in which James contemplates mortality and what he would share if he only had an hour left to live. All the best bits of living flash before our eyes in an uplifting investigation into life, humanity, and, of course, James Rowland dies at the end of the show.

From the creator of the acclaimed Songs of Friendship Trilogy, James Rowland brings his second trilogy of storytelling shows to venues the length and breadth of the country - he tours three shows across 50+ venues from January - May 2025.

James will be performing at Exeter Phoenix on 22 February and at the Theatre Royal Plymouth Drum, 20-24 May.

For more information visit jamesrowlandtouring.com

Praise for the Songs of the Heart Trilogy

‘A riveting, remarkable hour of theatre’

★★★★★ - The Guardian (Learning to Fly)

‘James Rowland is a gifted storyteller’

★★★★ - The Stage (Piece of Work)

‘A heartwarming experience, told with warmth and wit, with humour and empathy, and with an endearing, heartfelt sincerity’

★★★★★ - Three Weeks (James Rowland Dies at the End of the Show)

‘Rowland is a subtle storyteller who exudes warmth and vulnerability’

★★★★ - The Times (Learning to Fly)

‘James’ narrative prowess shines brilliantly… weaving a tapestry of unpretentious emotion and humour that resonates throughout’