An unusual play written by Sue MacLaine celebrates the life of society beauty and model Henrietta Moraes, first wife of Indian poet and writer Dom Moraes. He was a poet in exile - an English poet in India and an Indian poet in England. Here's a closer look at the relationship between the much celebrated Dom and the Bohemian Henrietta

If Dom Moraes had been alive, I think he would have asked me to drive him down to the Phoenix Gallery in Brighton to see an unusual play called 'Still Life: An Audience with Henrietta Moraes' in which the audience are invited to "bring a sketchbook and drawing materials of your choice (not charcoal)" and draw the main character on stage.



The play scheduled throughout the month of May (during the weekends) is a one-woman show, where Henrietta is portrayed by Sue MacLaine, who has also written the play. You see there is a history to all this.
Dom, a brilliant poet, journalist and author, was married for five years in the sixties to Henrietta, who was a society beauty, artists' muse and part of a Bohemian set in Soho, London's fabled district.

As for Dom, he was the son of a distinguished Indian journalist, Frank Moraes, who edited The Times of India and campaigned for the Dalai Lama to be given sanctuary in India when the Tibetan spiritual leader was forced by the Chinese to flee his native land in 1959.