A new start in life

In July 1980, a one-man show about St Francis, Un Soleil en Pleine Nuit, premiered in Caux. It starred French mime artist Michel Orphelin, and was written by British playwright Hugh Steadman Williams, with music

by Kathleen Johnson, also British. Michel Orphelin presented the play – in its French or English version (Poor Man, Rich Man) – in many countries over the next decade.

Su Riddell left her job as a secretary in Paris to join the backstage team, aged 21, in June 1980. She toured with the play in Europe and North America for the next three years. These extracts from various letters to her family describe the adventure.

Editors note: We are grateful to Lyria Normington, for editing and proofreading the transcripts.