Forever Mine
20 February 2023
THE LOVE-STORY BEHIND
THE WORLD’S BEST-LOVED HYMN
All-island theatre
tour visits Longford
“Forever Mine”
Friday 24 March 7.30pm
at St. John’s Church,
Friday 24 March 7.30pm
at St. John’s Church,
Longford
Tickets €5
St. John’s Church in Longford is delighted to host a
performance of the brand-new stage play “Forever Mine” as part of its
all-island tour. 2023 marks the 250th
anniversary of “Amazing Grace” – the world’s best-loved hymn and one of the
most recorded songs of all time.
At its heart, Amazing Grace tells the dramatic story of its author
John Newton. The original stage play and costume drama, Forever Mine, explores this powerful story through the
lens of the two great loves of John Newton’s life – his love for God and his
love for “Polly” (his nickname for his wife Mary).
Based on Polly and Newton’s love letters and on
letters, diaries and authentic historical writings, Forever Mine is
a true story of separation and reunion, death and new life, love, loss and
redemption. Although set in the 18th century, this moving narrative will
resonate with modern audiences.
The drama also looks honestly at John Newton’s role in the
slave trade. It traces his slow journey
to repentance and his later work supporting the campaign for abolition as
mentor to William Wilberforce. Forever Mine also elevates the
lesser-known voices of the abolition movement such as former slave and writer
Olaudah Equiano and the poet William Cowper.
Forever Mine is brought to life by a stellar cast
of professional actors starring Ellis Wells as John Newton, Susie
Garvey-Williams as Polly Newton, Gideon Assuming as Olaudah Equiano and Ryan
Moss as William Wilberforce.
With venues
in Munster, Leinster, Connacht and Ulster, the debut tour of Forever Mine will have
its finale in Buncrana, on the shores of Lough Swilly, in County Donegal, where John Newton’s
ship The Greyhound, dropped anchor after a ferocious Atlantic storm in 1748 –
the Irish connection to this global story that inspired the play.