20th anniversary tour for Morecambe & Wise tribute The Play What I Wrote

The 20th anniversary of The Play What I Wrote is being marked with a revival and a tour which brings it to Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre from July 4-9.
Thom Tuck and Dennis Herdman in The Play What I Wrote - Credit Manuel HarlanThom Tuck and Dennis Herdman in The Play What I Wrote - Credit Manuel Harlan
Thom Tuck and Dennis Herdman in The Play What I Wrote - Credit Manuel Harlan

Originally created and performed by Hamish McColl and Sean Foley, it is now being directed by Sean with the reins on stage being handed over to Thom Tuck and Dennis Herdman, with Mitesh Soni completing the three-hander.

Sean says: “I co-wrote the show and was in it 20 years ago. It was directed by Kenneth Branagh in its first production in 2001. We played it throughout pretty much 2002 and then went to Broadway in 2003 and then it had a long afterlife and did lots of big tours and all sorts of things.

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“And I think there are three reasons really why it was the success that it was.

“The fact is that it is a genuinely funny night out at the theatre. It is an homage to Morecambe and Wise and it really does make you laugh. It's a very funny show and that's the baseline. It really delivers laughs and people enjoy it but I think the second thing is that there is that element of Morecambe and Wise who had that wonderful ability to evoke a comic world. This show has never been about impersonations. As I say it is a real homage, and there is definitely that nostalgic element to it, the fact that their style of comedy is timeless and still works now.

“But also there is the element of the guest star that we have got and I think that's the other leg to the stool. We have had so many amazing guest stars throughout the first iteration of the show and in its revival now.

“I did once tot up how many times I had performed in it and it was something like 690 performances,” says Sean who admits he would still love to be performing in it – except, of course, he has the day job now as artistic director of Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

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“There were lots of very successful tours with new casts maybe into 2007 in various guises and the original producer David Pugh was always asking us to do it again but we couldn't quite find the time. It proved impossible to find the time when everybody could come together again and then with the passing of the years effectively we knew it was never going to happen.

“But when I became artistic director of Birmingham Rep it was always in my mind to revive it and then last April we were thinking what on earth could we do for a Christmas show that did not involve hiring 20 actors. I thought that Morecambe & Wise at Christmas has always been such a massive cultural thing and I just happened to have this show and wondered whether I could direct it. I got in touch with Hamish and Ken and I said I would like to do it again after all this time and they were very generous in saying that I should do it and they were very supportive of the whole idea which was great. So it is really nice to go back to it. I enjoy the material a lot and I know it inside out so I haven’t really found it strange and it is great to be directing it.”

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