A Montage Of Monet

Stephen Smith brings A Montage of Monet to the York Medical Society on Wednesday 8 July at 19:30 and Saturday 11 July at 15:00. It's a 55-minute one-man play produced by Threedumb Theatre, written by Joan Greening specifically for Smith, who also serves as the company's artistic director.

The play looks at the life and loves of French Impressionist Claude Monet, and it doesn't stick to the highlights. It covers his two marriages, the death of his first wife, his lover's erratic behaviour, and a suicide attempt. There's also his take on fellow Impressionists and the torment of his failing eyesight. On stage, Smith's live storytelling is paired with projection design and music by Joe Furey, so the visuals and sound do a fair bit of the heavy lifting alongside the monologue.

There's a local connection here, too. Smith developed the role after visiting York Art Gallery in 2024 to see The Water-Lily Pond during the National Treasures: Monet in York exhibition, so the whole thing started with a painting right here in the city. The production comes to York after a sold-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2025, where Broadway Baby called it "classy" and "stylish" and Theatre and Arts Review noted that "Smith's performance is incredible."

It's a short show, just under an hour, and the two dates are spaced a few days apart: Wednesday 8 July at 19:30 and Saturday 11 July at 15:00, both at the York Medical Society, 23 Stonegate, York YO1 8AW.