Julia Darling was one of the North East's most acclaimed and well-regarded writers at the time of her death from cancer in April 2005. Whilst she was still alive, Julia collaborated with Neil Blenskinsop, David Scott, Zoe Lambert and the theatre director Jeremy Harding (Live Theatre) to produce a song cycle based on her critically acclaimed collection of poetry, Sudden Collapses in Public Places.

The poems reflect Julia's witty and irreverent take on what it is like to deal with the absurdity and normality of life as a cancer patient and what it's like to contemplate one's own death.

The project, which originally premiered at Live Theatre, was revived in September 2006 and Dave and Neil wrote a number of new songs to extend the song cycle. The new version of the show was presented at The Sage, Gateshead in September 2006.

Please contact New Writing North if you would like further information or have any ideas about how this project might be used to good advantage.