“….a massive theatrical achievement. …. deserves some kind of award!”
Brighton Source (Full Review here)

5 Stars! “… an exceptionally crafted and masterfully executed  epic.”
The Lewesian, Sept 2021 (Full Review here)

A thought-provoking, poignant, lump-in-throat, dynamic, energetic and semi-immersive theatre collage of the stories and era that surrounded the “Mother of Free Festivals.”

“The best feelgood, dance along, piece of theatre I’ve ever seen. Really brought everyone together. Highlight of my festival” via Sally Edwards.

“Among the festival highlights were watching Jonathan Brown’s play about Woodstock. If you get a chance to see this, do it!” Adam Wilder

“this was my festival highlight – utterly brilliant piece of work – and hope many many get to see it. Thank you!!!” Bianca Gavin

“…really entertaining- you are a master of character” Mo Cohen.

“…an amazing rollercoaster which is moving, hilarious, revealing and joyful. Jonathan is a high speed shapeshifter!” Mark Mansbridge

“This is the most amazing show I’ve ever seen. I would advise anyone who can to go and see this. Fabulous.” Judith Sluglett

Inspired by the ethos of the hippie, counterculture, and free festival movements, and still retaining remnants of these  traditions, Award-winning Something Underground Theatre Company brings you it’s tribute to Woodstock ’69

AND NOW ALSO….
The Spirit of Woodstock’s sequel show, about the 70’s…
The Children of The Revolution

“The Spirit of Woodstock” is a vibrant, dynamic, semi-immersive show where you’ll meet a huge cast, including many of the 400,000 “kids” that attended Woodstock ’69; organisers (e.g. Mike Lang / Joel Rosenman); MC  (Chip Monck); a helicopter pilot; some of the performers (e.g. Jerry Garcia, Pete Townshend, Arlo Guthrie, Janis Joplin, Country Joe Macdonald, Jimi Hendrix and more), local residents, policeman on the nearby road, acid dealers, Max Yasgur (farmer who owned the land), parents of kids attending, local shopkeepers, toilet cleaners, medical personnel, Wavy Gravy, and The Hog Farm (food distributors and Please Force), TV News Reporters, lighting rostra guys; sound techies;  and many, many more,….

The show also creates many of the characters and events that portray the background scene to the whole era, including the Lunar landings,  counterculture revolutionaries, “resist the Draft” and civil rights protestors, The Merry Pranksters, Abbie Hoffman, Vietnam Vets, those that supported the Vietnamese war, Politicians (e.g. Nixon), Nelson Rockefeller (Governor of New York State), state troopers and national guard, members of the Wallkill chamber of commerce who opposed the Wallkill original venue, people who threatened the Jewish Yasgur, Chair of the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence, Jerry Rubin. (Writer for underground / counterculture papers such as The Rat). And many more.
There was even a deadly Hong Kong flu pandemic at the time… but hey.. we need a break.  The whole show is imbued with strains of the music, soundscapes, announcements, voices and background atmosphere, dramatically creating the haunting ethos of the time,… and echoing our time.

                Staged upon a 20 ft high and 2.8 m wide al scaff tower with a small stage in front, and includes some minimal set, & props that enable the audience to leap in their imaginations from being in the Woodstock crowd itself to being in the office of The Governor of The State of New York, to being in a helicopter over the Bethel site, to being next to the guy who’s cleaning the toilets, to being on stage, to witnessing the moonlanding.

The piece is semi-immersive, including some audience participation, from the audience’s imagination to arrive in each moment, to joining in with chants (“Gimme an F!”… from Country Joe & the Fish) or being recipients of the New York Stock Exchange money-scattering theatrical-protest pranks of the Yippies. As the performer moves often amongst them, They, the audience, will in turn become (for example): Janis Joplin’s band being helicoptered in; cars abandoned on the approach road; festivalgoers waiting in line for a toilet; the nosey neighbour of the Head of The Wallkill Chamber of Commerce; the wife of Max Yasgur; the audience of Woodstock; Michael Lang; an onsite payphone; the crowds that gathered at Cape Canaveral to watch the Apollo 11 liftoff; boulders & craters on the moon; the wounded of Vietnam; Anti-war protesters and more.

This piece is really a story of the time and people, the era, around Woodstock, and so rather than following one person’s trajectory, is a thought-provoking but highly dynamic and energetic montage / collage of the worlds that surrounded the event.

“…. writer Jonathan Brown knows how to drive a plot…”
Lyn Gardner, The Guardian, on “Betsy:….”

“We have rebooked Jonathan every year without question since our first sample of his talents. He has built up a following at our event, and can be relied upon for a quality of Theatre and Storytelling that is rare to find on the festival scene.  Delightful to work with, great♥ communication, and a very high bar of inclusive entertainment; exactly what works for me as an onsite coordinator.”
Rozi Hilton. Festival Entertainments coordinator.