Britain's What's On Event Guide
History Has No Safe Word
Professor Nathan Zangari is fading away.
Once voted the sexiest professor on BBC2’s Open University, his highly celebrated archeo-linguistics paper on “Graffiti, Women and the Walls of Pompeii” is now but a distant memory.
Now, he can’t sleep, he can’t get published, and… he can’t get laid.
At the sleep-study clinic that he’s enrolled at, they observe him talking in his sleep, seemingly an intermediary for a long-forgotten Pompeian girl.
When overambitious student, Callie, offers to capture his mumblings, they both find themselves sucked into the very real lives of those on the edge of destruction, some 2000 years ago.
“… masterful stagecraft … immersive and engaging throughout… a highly accomplished piece of writing and performance… a visceral portrayal of life in Pompeii on the eve of the infamous Vesuvian eruption in 79 CE.
Brown clearly knows his history, and the way he brings Pompeii to life is nothing short of astonishing. There is a gripping action scene in the second half that had my wife reaching out her arms to intervene, so immersed was she in the story.
If historical drama is your thing, you’re in for a treat.” Fringe Review, 2026.
Written and Performed
by Jonathan Brown
Once voted the sexiest professor on BBC2’s Open University, his highly celebrated archeo-linguistics paper on “Graffiti, Women and the Walls of Pompeii” is now but a distant memory.
Now, he can’t sleep, he can’t get published, and… he can’t get laid.
At the sleep-study clinic that he’s enrolled at, they observe him talking in his sleep, seemingly an intermediary for a long-forgotten Pompeian girl.
When overambitious student, Callie, offers to capture his mumblings, they both find themselves sucked into the very real lives of those on the edge of destruction, some 2000 years ago.
“… masterful stagecraft … immersive and engaging throughout… a highly accomplished piece of writing and performance… a visceral portrayal of life in Pompeii on the eve of the infamous Vesuvian eruption in 79 CE.
Brown clearly knows his history, and the way he brings Pompeii to life is nothing short of astonishing. There is a gripping action scene in the second half that had my wife reaching out her arms to intervene, so immersed was she in the story.
If historical drama is your thing, you’re in for a treat.” Fringe Review, 2026.
Written and Performed
by Jonathan Brown
Tuesday 22 September
The Cockpit, Gateforth Street, London NW8 8EH
Date:Tuesday 22 September – 7:30pm
Tickets
Full price: £19.54
Concessions: £16.45 (incl. booking fees)
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