My friend Martin White, now an international authority on Early Modern British theatre, was, in 1983, a young lecturer in Bristol University’s Drama Department. He asked me to write some incidental music for his production of The Innocent Mistress, a Restoration comedy by Mary Pix, first performed in 1697. One of Martin’s students, Helen Porter, came up to Derby to go through what I’d written and take the music manuscripts back with her. Not ideal circumstances, as inevitably I was more remote from the project than I’d’ve liked, but Helen was a generous collaborator and Martin very welcoming of what I’d contributed, so I have happy memories of it.
