07 May 2012
I’m getting excited about Thursday. Last year Nimax Theatres asked if we would produce a new production of HORRIBLE HISTORIES for the West End and I began working on HORRIBLE HISTORIES – BARMY BRITAIN. Twenty-one years ago I wrote my first and only sketch about Shakespeare for a compilation of comedy scenes for a show called HAMLET – AS SHAKESPEARE ALWAYS WANTED IT PERFORMED – SO HE TELLS ME. By a strange accident the show ended up at The Duke of Yorks Theatre where our glorious cast had a fantastic fortnight and made a minor profit thanks to a rave review from Time Out. It’s still one of my favourite experiences but I have never put pen to paper since. Yet for some reason the offer from Nimax stirred a interest to go back to the writing desk to create four new scenes for a one hour show put together with Terry Deary and Ciaran McConville. Having had a strong instinct about how to stage it, I put on my directing cap and together with a great creative team took inspiration from Tommy Cooper to produce a show centered on the art of the actor, with loving support from sound, lighting, costumes, props and a deceptively simply set.