The
Muse
Staged at Leighton House Museum,
a multi-media play exploring the
relationship between Lord Leighton, PRA,
and his model, Dorothy Dene, inspiration
for his masterpiece Flaming June .
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A Palimpsest production
www.palimpsest.co
www.leightonhouse.co.uk
Not Suitable for under 14s
Tickets available at www.EventBrite.co.ukFr
ederic
Leig
hto
n, F
lam
ing J
une 1
89
5 ©
Muse
o d
e A
rte
de P
onc
e. T
he L
uis A
. Ferré F
oundat
ion, Inc
.
Beauty.
Nudity.
Ambition .
The rise and fall of Fame.
Lord Leighton
1830-1896
Mexi
co, C
olle
ctio
n P
ére
z S
imón
©
Stu
dio
Sébert P
hoto
gra
phes
Henry
van
der W
eyd
e, D
oro
thy
Dene (A
da
Alic
e P
ulle
n),
188
0s
©N
atio
nal
Portra
it G
alle
ry
Was Dorothy the model
for Shaw’s Pygmalion?
“ ...the story of Eliza Doolittle,
though called a romance because
the transfiguration it records
seems exceedingly improbable,
is probable enough. Such
transfigurations have been
achieved by hundreds of resolutely
ambitious young women...I draw my
characters from life, as I see them...”
George Bernard Shaw,
Preface to Pygmalion 1912
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Who Was Dorothy Dene?
(Born Ada Alice Pullan) 1859- 1899;
The
Muse
Follow Ada Alice Pullan
@DorothyDene1 on Twitter.
Explore the evidence in the
form of an online scrap box
at www.the-muse.co.uk
“I was late for Miss Dorothy Dene’s
Juliet. This I greatly regretted.
Miss Dene was a young actress who
had not the painted show of beauty
which was so common on the stage,
and so useless, but that honest
reality of it which is so useful
to painters. Her speech showed
unusual signs of thoughtful
calculation. She had a plastic
grace, she took herself and her
profession seriously, and her
appearances in leading roles were
not unpopular. The mystery is,
what became of her? Did the studio
instantly reclaim its adored
model? Did she fall into the abyss
of opulent matrimony? Did she
demand impossible terms? Or were
the managers obdurate in their
belief that there is only one safe
sort of actress- the woman who is
all susceptibility and no brains?”
PRESENTS
Actress?Model?
Muse?Protege?
Confidante?Consort?
George Bernard Shaw,
Our Theatre in the Nineties, 1932
Frederic Leighton
was made president
of The Royal Academy
and knighted in
1878; the year before
he met 20 year old
Ada Pullan.
New letters discovered
in 2015 suggest that
this poor girl from
New Cross, who
changed her name
to Dorothy Dene and
rose to be one of the
most feted actress/
models of the late
Victorian Era,
was ultimately
Leighton’s partner.
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Beauty. Nudity. Ambition.
The rise and fall of Fame.
The
Muse
22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 27th, 29th
and 30th March 2017
Doors at 7:15pm for drinks soiree
Play begins at 7:45pm
Due to the nature of the play please note
that late comers will not be admitted.
Not suitable for under 14 yr olds.
Leighton House Museum
12 Holland Park Rd , London, W14 8LZ
www.leightonhouse.co.uk
www.palimpsest.co
Following a sell-out run of ‘The Muse’
at Leighton House Museum in 2015,
Palimpsest return with a strictly
limited run for March 2017.
Exploring the relationship
between Lord Leighton and his
model, muse and confidante,
Dorothy Dene, The Muse fuses
theatre, film and online
elements at www.the-muse.co.uk.
Reviewed as ‘Beautiful and
Haunting’ and ‘Much more than a
mere play’ by The British Theatre
Guide, the evening begins with a
drinks soirée ranging through
the glorious salons of Leighton’s
palace of art and culminates
in the artist’s studio where
Dorothy posed nude in 1886.
The play features an original
piano score performed by
composer John Chambers.
The ticket price includes the
opportunity to view Flaming
June, after the performance.
PRESENTS
Leighton House Museum is the former
studio house of Frederic Leighton
(1830-1896). The centrepiece is the
extraordinary Arab Hall, featuring
16th and 17th Islamic tiles, mosaic
floors and a calming fountain.
Also Leighton’s painting studio, with
its large north-facing window,where
he created the iconic Flaming June.
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