A rollicking tale of adventure set in early Victorian England, ranging from East End squalor to the Northern mills, and packing in an almost Dickensian gallery of characters.England 1837: a country in a state of turmoil. A young girl is propelled on a journey from the London slums to the servants' quarters of a great house, and from first love to murder.Jack Shepherd's play Holding Fire is a picaresque tale of tavern assemblies and prize fights, gin-palace communists and bullying do-gooders, industrialists and whores, bringing to life the violent times of early Victorian England.Holding Fire was first staged at Shakespeare's Globe, London, in July 2007.
Jack Shepherd (1940–2025) was an English actor, playwright and theatre director.His plays include Through a Cloud (Drum Theatre, Plymouth, 2004) and Holding Fire (Shakespeare's Globe, London, 2007).