A brand-new production of the Olivier Award-winning comedy Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense, based on the well-loved Jeeves and Wooster books is to set off on a 17-week tour of the UK, taking in over 30 regional theatres and arts venues and an additional selection of venues on the rural touring circuit.
Aristocratic buffoon Bertie Wooster has hired the theatre for the night to present his one-man show detailing a recent and rather spectacular series of misadventures, including the theft of a novelty cow creamer and a narrow escape from unwanted matrimony. The only trouble is Bertie hasn’t worked out who’s going to play the parts. Will the show be a disaster? Will the scenery stay upright? Or will his trusty manservant Jeeves step in and save the day?
In a joyous reimagining of the classic P.G.Wodehouse characters, three actors hurl themselves from role to role as they race to tell the story of Bertie’s own farcical adventures. Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense was created by the Goodale Brothers, adapted primarily from P.G. Wodehouse’s The Code of the Woosters.
The show premiered at Richmond Theatre in 2013, with the lead roles being played by Stephen Mangan and Matthew Macfadyen, then transferred to the Duke of York’s Theatre in the West End. It won the 2014 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy.
The show is being produced by two Cotswold Theatres, The Theatre Chipping Norton and the Barn Theatre in Cirencester, and is directed by Chipping Norton Theatre’s Artistic Director John Terry. Bertie Wooster is played by Matthew Cavendish, who performs regularly with Mischief Theatre, appearing in The Play That Goes Wrong in the West End and on Broadway, as well as Peter Pan Goes Wrong and A Comedy About a Bank Robbery in the West End.
Director John Terry said, “If ever there was a time when the world needed the sunlight optimism and wit of PG Wodehouse, it might be now. Anarchically, brilliantly funny, and a huge theatrical challenge to bring to the stage, we are delighted to be remounting this fantastic comedy. As two of the smallest producing venues in the country, it is incredibly exciting and rewarding to be able to deliver such an ambitious tour – almost 40 venues across 17 weeks of playing, spanning from 80 to 800 seats. Our production brings a gently contemporary freshness to the Goodale’s brilliant stage adaptation. From live Foley sound effects to an original score of contemporary swing music, and the most ingenious box-of-tricks you have ever seen, this production should suit Wodehouse novices and experts alike.”
