Miser! The Musical (2011)

The story of Miser! the Musical starts with Margery Jackson living in Botcherby at the house of Joseph Bowman, her Quaker business manager of 40 years. In February 1812 she has a stroke, which puts the house all in a flurry-her will is unsigned! Recovering slightly, she starts to tell Joseph Bowman about her life before they met. Back in 1762, she bumps into her brother, the Revd. William Jackson, at a political rally. Although initially pleased to see her, he becomes evasive when she mentions visiting him in Carlisle. When she turns up at his house in Scotch Street, she finds out why. Anger flares as she realises he could easily afford to pay her the money that he still owes her from their parents' estates. Turfed out of the house, she disappears. Eleven years later, Margery is staying at Nunnery, near Kirkoswald, with her Aglionby cousins. Learning that William is at Croglin (Low) Hall nearby, she writes to him but receives a rude reply. Margery resolves to take him to court to recover her rightful inheritance. At the Court of Chancery, she is advised that the legal path is not an easy one. Two years into the case, William dies, leaving his estates to his executors and cuts Margery out of his will. At the advice of her attorney, Robert Mounsey, Margery engages Joseph Bowman as her business manager and restarts the court case. Defendants die and the lawyers for the defence conspire against her but eventually, the case draws to its conclusion. Margery returns to Carlisle but she is not welcomed back into society. She grows increasingly miserly and eccentric. As Joseph Bowman attempts to help her complete her will, Margery starts to talk about a secret that she has never told before. In it, she explains how she came to have a court mantua dress made and talks about her hopes and dreams as a young woman who saw the Jacobites march through Carlisle. Yet fate is not kind to her. Returning to 1812, Joseph reveals some information that puts an entirely different light on the events of Margery's early life. And in the final scenes, both Margery and Joseph discover that they stand to lose everything.