Out of Order, the Olivier Award-winning comedy returns to the stage in a gleeful new production directed by playwright Ray Cooney, (‘THE MASTER OF FARCE’ – The Telegraph), who is celebrating seventy years in the industry. Starring Shaun Williamson (EastEnders, Extras) as ‘George Pigden’; Sue Holderness (Only Fools & Horses, Green Green Grass) as ‘Mrs Willey’; Andrew Hall (Butterflies, Coronation Street) as ‘Richard Willey’; Susie Amy (Footballers’ Wives) as ‘Jane Worthington’; and James Holmes (Miranda) as the ‘Waiter’, the production will open in Guildford on 8 March and tour the UK until July. Further casting to be announced.
When Tory Junior Minister Richard Willey tries to spend the evening with Jane, one of the Opposition’s secretaries, in the Westminster Hotel, things don’t exactly go according to plan – starting with the discovery of a body trapped in the hotel’s only unreliable sash window… Enlisting the help of his hapless private secretary George Pigden, Willey’s sticky situation goes from bad to worse, and with the arrival of Jane’s distraught young husband and with the addition of an unscrupulous waiter, Mrs Willey and Nurse Foster things really come to a head!
Ray Cooney’s credits include Run For Your Wife, Funny Money and Two Into One, Caught in the Net and It Runs in the Family. Out of Order was first produced regionally in 1980, under the original title ‘Whose Wife is it Anyway’, with Cooney playing ‘George Pigden’. The show was subsequently produced in the West End in 1990 starring Donald Sinden, Sandra Dickinson and Michael Williams, with Cooney directing.
Praise for the West End production, which won the Olivier Award for Best Comedy, includes:
“Gleefully funny” – Guardian
“Made me laugh more than any play I have seen in the West End this year” – Evening Standard
“A triumph” – Financial Times
“A textbook model of pyramiding lunacy” – Variety
“Wildly funny” – Telegraph
“An inspired machine designed to cater for one of civilized society’s greatest joys, which is to see someone else in the soup” – Sunday Times
Ray Cooney said, “Having directed my Olivier Award-Winning play in London and all over the world, and hearing all that wonderful raucous laughter from audiences, it has become one of my favourite plays. I’ve up-dated it to present day and, fortunately, the basic premise of a philandering MP is as likely today as it was when the play was originally written!”
Out of Order is produced by Tom O’Connell Productions, with design by Rebecca Brower, Lighting by Jack Weir, Sound by James Nicholson and casting by Marc Frankum CDG.
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The show will be at The Orchard Theatre on Monday 5 – Saturday 10 June. Pre-show dining is also available before the show. The Orchard Theatre’s Restaurant provides a delicious range of, unique and memorable dishes, using the freshest local produce and prepared daily by the Head Chef. Reserve your table when booking your show tickets.
To book tickets or for more information visit orchardtheatre.co.uk or call the Ticket Office on 01322 220000.
