The theatrical world premiere of Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith’s award-winning television comedy Inside No.9 will open in London’s West End at Wyndham’s Theatre on 18 January with a newly written story – Inside No.9 Stage/Fright.
This show will feature comedic, spooky and dramatic moments as fans of the TV show have come to expect, with some familiar characters and stories mixing with brand new material. Pemberton and Shearsmith will be performing in the production, with further casting to be announced. Tickets for the 12 week limited season will go on sale at 19:00 on Wednesday 8 May from Insideno9onstage.com. The highly anticipated ninth, and final, season of the critically acclaimed series begins on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer on 8 May.
Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith explain all about the stage show here: “We’ve been asked about doing a live show ever since the series first started on the BBC, probably because each episode is like a mini-play. There are small casts and single locations, and we were definitely inspired by our work in theatre when writing the stories for TV.
We are currently writing the script even as it goes on sale, but we are certain there will be plenty of new material and surprises for fans and new-comers alike. There’ll be something old, something new, something butchered and something… BOO! We want to use the different things a theatre show can offer in terms of comedy – a collective audience behaves very differently to a solitary one, the laughter builds and the shared enjoyment is infectious. So there’ll definitely be some big comic moments, but also something a bit spooky and more dramatic. We have created IN9 Theatre Company with the intention that there could be more stage adaptations in the future.
Inside No.9 viewers go into each episode not knowing what to expect and we want this to be the same for the theatre show, with the ability for each audience to experience the performance for the first time and go on that theatrical journey with us. On TV we have done everything from knockabout farce to psychological drama to full on horror. We’ve chosen the subtitle Stage/Fright, which does suggest something theatrical and something unsettling. But to say any more would spoil the surprises and we would never do that. We want to deliver the perfect West End night at the theatre… we might even crack out a song if you’re lucky!”
