Following the huge success of The Wipers Times and Trial By Laughter, Trademark Touring, Karl Sydow and Anthology Theatre in association with The Everyman Theatre Cheltenham are proud to present the UK tour of Ian Hislop and Nick Newman’s comedy A Bunch of Amateurs.
Keen to boost his flagging career, fading Hollywood action hero Jefferson Steele arrives in England to play King Lear in Stratford – only to find that he is not in the birthplace of Shakespeare, but in a sleepy Suffolk village. And instead of starring alongside Sir Kenneth Branagh and Dame Judi Dench, the cast are a bunch of amateurs trying to save their theatre from ruthless developers.
Jefferson’s monstrous ego, vanity and insecurity are tested to the limit by the enthusiastic amateur thespians he finds himself sharing the spotlight with. As acting worlds collide and Jefferson’s career implodes, he discovers some truths about himself – along with his inner Lear!
Ian Hislop and Nick Newman said “Following successful national tours of The Wipers Times and Trial By Laughter, we are thrilled to be touring the very first play we wrote, A Bunch of Amateurs – a love letter to the world of amateur theatre and a celebration of the overweening absurdity of Hollywood stardom”.
A Bunch of Amateurs will be directed by Robin Herford. He is undoubtedly best known for the phenomenally successful The Woman In Black, which he commissioned whilst he was Artistic Director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough in the late 1980s, and has now been running in the West End for 30 years.
Casting is yet to be announced.
