Artistic Director, Paul Hart, today announces full casting for the world premiere of Spike, a new comedy by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman. The title role will be played by Olivier Award-winning actor John Dagleish, with Stephen Fry voicing the BBC Announcer at The Watermill from Thursday 27 January – Saturday 5 March.
It’s the booming fifties, and Britain is in the clutches of Goon mania as men, women and children across the country scramble to get their ear to a wireless for another instalment of The Goon Show. While Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers get down to the serious business of becoming overnight celebrities, fellow Goon and chief writer Spike finds himself pushing the boundaries of comedy, and testing the patience of the BBC.
Flanked by his fellow Goons and bolstered by the efforts of irrepressible sound assistant Janet, Spike takes a flourishing nosedive off the cliffs of respectability, and mashes up his haunted past to create the comedy of the future.
Will Spike’s dogged obsession with finding the funny elevate The Goons to soaring new heights, or will the whole thing come crashing down with the stroke of a potato peeler?
Olivier Award-winning actor John Dagleish (Sunny Afternoon, Lark Rise to Candleford, A Christmas Carol) has been cast as ‘Spike Milligan’. TV comedienne Margaret Cabourn-Smith (Motherland, Miranda, Buffering) will star as ‘Janet’ with Stephen Fry voicing the ‘BBC Announcer’.
They will be joined by George Kemp (recently seen in Bridgerton, and soon to star in Amazon’s Call My Agent) as ‘Peter Sellers’, Jeremy Lloyd (The Comedy About a Bank Robbery, Trial by Laughter) as ‘Harry Secombe’, James Mack (The Watermill’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Rivals, Macbeth and Journey’s End) as ‘Denis Main-Wilson / Peter Eton’, Ellie Morris (The Play That Goes Wrong, Mischief Movie Night, The Comedy About A Bank Robbery for Mischief Theatre company) playing ‘June’ and Robert Mountford (The Habit of Art, The Haunting of Alice Bowles for Original Theatre Company, House and Garden for The Watermill) as ‘BBC Executive’.
Spike will be directed by Watermill Artistic Director Paul Hart, with design by Katie Lias, lighting design by Rory Beaton. The Composer is Tayo Akinbode with sound design by Tom Marshall, Ruth Sullivan is the Foley Sound Consultant. Anjali Mehra is Movement Director and Robert Kirby is the Associate Director. The stage management team consists of Alice Barber as DSM, with Natalie Toney and Natalia Kheldouni as ASMs.
Ian Hislop and Nick Newman said, “Writing Spike gave us the opportunity to celebrate the genius of the founding father of modern comedy, explore what inspired him and steal all his jokes”.
Paul Hart Artistic Director at The Watermill said, “It’s been great to work with Ian and Nick on this homage to one of the most iconic voices in modern comedy. The play will commemorate twenty years since his death (he’s still ill then??) and will be equally good fun to those who know the Goons and to audiences who are new to Spike’s distinctive brand of humour. And how we all need a laugh at the moment!”
The Watermill remains committed to the safety of audiences, actors and staff and has a series of measures in place to help control the risk of Covid-19. Audiences are asked to wear face coverings and observe distancing where possible. Enhanced cleaning procedures, including regular fogging of the auditorium, and an efficient ventilation system supplying conditioned and filtered fresh air also remain in place.
To help audiences to book with confidence, The Watermill operates a flexible booking policy. In the event that their booking is affected by Covid-19, audience members will be offered a ticket exchange, account credit or refund.
