Miles Jupp, one of Britain’s leading stand-up comedians and revered actors (Mock the Week, Balamory, The News Quiz, Rev, The Durrells), will tour the UK in 2019, with the world premiere of The Life I Lead by James Kettle, directed by Selina Cadell, opening at the Exeter Northcott on 6 February.
Best remembered for playing ‘Mr Banks’ in Disney’s classic film Mary Poppins and ‘Professor Emelius Browne’ in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, British actor David Tomlinson was renowned for playing the classic English gent: forthright, proper, and a loveable fool. His meeting with Walt Disney came to encapsulate his incredible life full of adventure and heartbreak. The Life I Lead sees Miles Jupp bringing David Tomlinson’s remarkable story to life.
As a World War Two fighter pilot, his early life contained action and adventure; but he suffered huge heartbreak with the tragic death of his first wife, and his fight to have his son Willie recognised as one of the first British cases of autism. The man who portrayed one of cinema’s most famous patriarchs was also defined by his relationship with his own father – a remote eccentric, who was hiding an extraordinary tragicomic secret.
The Life I Lead is a richly comic and moving tale of fathers and sons across the generations and fills in the blanks behind a very well-known face.
Miles Jupp said. “I was attracted to this first because of the character of Tomlinson himself- a man whose acting performances seemed effortless but concealed a great skill beneath the surface and not a little magic. And then by the story of his life, beautifully written by my frequent collaborator James Kettle, which is full of surprises. It is a script that contains both comedy and moments of extraordinary sadness and pain and I hope that under the direction of Selina Cadell, one of my most favourite people in the world, I can do the play and Tomlinson justice.”
The Life I Lead tours from 6th February to 3rd April 2019. Tour details here.
