Wit, Intellect, Vanity, Warmth, and
Lingering Melancholy Are
Hallmarks of David Payne's Churchill

On Sunday, April 12th, Raleigh audiences in Raleigh Memorial Auditorium in the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts got an afternoon with British statesman, army officer, author, and 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) -- or at least the closest thing most of us will ever see to one. In Churchill, veteran British actor David Payne brings the former prime minister to life in a one-man show set in 1963, after President John F. Kennedy (1917-63) granted Churchill honorary U.S. citizenship. Payne also wrote the play himself, shaping it not as a dry lecture but as a personal evening in Churchill's company.

One of the smartest choices in the show is its framing. Churchill speaks to the audience as though they are invited guests at a dinner at Blenheim Palace, and that device immediately creates a sense of intimacy and involvement. We are not simply watching a historical figure recite milestones from his life; we are being welcomed into his confidence. That approach makes the performance feel less like a conventional biography and more like an encounter.

Payne's performance is the great strength of the piece. He never turns Churchill into a caricature. The familiar gestures, vocal rhythms, and public bravado are certainly present; but Payne is too skillful -- and too respectful of the man's complexity -- to settle for imitation alone. Instead, he gives us a Churchill of wit, intellect, vanity, warmth, and lingering melancholy. The result is a portrayal that feels lived-in rather than exaggerated, human rather than merely iconic.

That assurance comes from a long and unusual path to the stage. David Payne, now 84, came to acting later in life and has become known for writing and performing deeply researched solo works built around great historical and literary figures. His experience shows here in the ease with which he commands the room, shifting from humor to reflection without ever losing the audience's trust.

The script wisely resists turning Churchill into a marble monument. Payne's version moves among the statesman's exploits, his battles with political rivals, his relationship with America, and his memories of the people closest to him. That variety keeps the show lively, but it also underscores why Churchill remains such a compelling subject for theater: he was not just historically important, but richly dramatic -- brilliant, contradictory, self-aware, and deeply conscious of legacy.

Following the performance, Payne thanked the audience quite sincerely and announced that he is already at work on another script centered on Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) and the Christmas that they spent together in December 1941, just after Pearl Harbor -- a new play that has been announced as Churchill & Roosevelt: The Christmas That Saved the World. That ongoing creative interest adds another layer to the current production, suggesting Payne is not merely repeating a successful role, but continuing to explore Churchill as both man and myth.

As a piece of theater, Churchill is simple, direct, and actor-driven. Its pleasures are substantial ones: a strong script, a commanding performer, and a frame that draws the audience into the room with history. Payne does not merely resemble Churchill; he captures the paradox of him -- grand and intimate, funny and formidable, public and private. For Raleigh audiences, that made the past feel not remote, but present and unexpectedly personal.

CHURCHILL (In Person April 12th), written, directed, and performed by David Payne (Emery Entertainment in Raleigh Memorial Auditorium in the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh). TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iRm8pawDaQ. REELS: https://www.facebook.com/ChurchillOnStage/reels/. PRESENTER: https://www.emeryentertainment.com/, https://www.facebook.com/emeryentertainment/, https://www.instagram.com/emeryentertainment/, https://x.com/EmeryEntertain, and https://www.youtube.com/@emeryentertainment7846. VENUE: https://www.martinmariettacenter.com/our-venues, https://www.linkedin.com/company/martin-marietta-center-for-the-performing-arts/, https://raleighnc.gov/community/places/martin-marietta-center-performing-arts, https://www.facebook.com/MMCRaleigh, https://www.instagram.com/mmcraleighnc/, https://x.com/mmcraleigh, and https://www.youtube.com/@MMCRaleighNC. SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL (British statesman, army officer, author, and 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature winner, nee Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, 1874-1965): https://winstonchurchill.org/, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Winston-Churchill, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill. CHURCHILL (one-man show): https://www.emeryentertainment.com/churchillstarringdavidpayne and https://birdandbabyproductions.com/shows/churchill/. DAVID PAYNE (playwright, director, and actor): https://birdandbabyproductions.com/about-us/about-david-payne/, https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/?speaker=david-payne, https://www.facebook.com/p/Churchill-100089973366961/. [RUN HAS CONCLUDED.]

EDITOR'S NOTE: Cyndi Whisnant is a playwright living in Carrboro, NC. Cyndi graduated from UNC, with degrees in English Literature and Journalism. She is an entrepreneur who has started several businesses and a swing band. Cyndi has written and produced plays for local schools, churches, and community theater. She is a member of Creative Greensboro's Playwrights Forum and Chapel Hill Sips & Scripts. She is passionate about theater in general, but is particularly interested in creating and supporting opportunities for women's voices and experiences on stage. Click here to read Cyndi Whisnant's reviews for Triangle Review.

 

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