Chopin’s Last Tour

Phil Aughey is Chopin, recounting episodes and playing music from his life whilst stuck in a foggy Scotland in 1848.

Aughey’s performance as an actor and pianist is of someone who has done this show a lot; he’s at his best when remembering the saddest times: then he has us captivated and listening to every word. Even the occasional missed note or imperfect timing on the piano feels like a composer who has had enough.

At that time in his life, Chopin was already suffering from an ‘irreparable cough’ (tuberculosis) and he’s irritable and frustrated. ‘One doctor said I was going to die; another, that I was drawing my last breath; a third, that I was already dead’ Aughey says, through a Polish accent.

Chopin complains about a lack of money in the arts, the ignominy of needing patronage, and only finding some solace with his fellow composers and performers – so not a lot has changed in nearly two hundred years!

The monologue is dense in content – it can be difficult to follow – but the interludes of Chopin’s music, played live by Aughey, better demonstrate the paradox of a bitter man and his beautiful compositions.

The stage is simple, being just a chair on one side, a piano and stool on the other, and there is nothing complicated from the technical side, though the audience might hear more if Aughey had some sound amplification.

If you didn’t know Chopin before, there’s not enough here for you to want to find out more. But if you have some interest in the man or his music, there’s intrigue and reward.

Mark Wickett

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