This new play written and starring Will Adamsdale, Brian Logan and Lloyd Hutchinson explores cultural stereotypes as three characters (English, Irish and Scottish) try and escape a joke they don’t want to be in.
After its UK tour, which begins on the 21st April at the Theatre Royal Margate, the show will visit the Camden People’s Theatre for a three week run from the 17th May to the 4th June.
Through the use of songs and comedy The Joke explores jokes and why we tell them as well as countries and why we need (and despair of) them, and even life and why we bother.
Talking about the inspiration for the show Will Adamsdale said: “I was watching a show at the National’s Lyttelton Theatre a few years ago and at the interval the massive safety curtain came up, and I thought how fun it would be if there were some bemused men on it as it went up, who didn’t want to be there or in the theatre at all. I wondered why they would be there, trapped in the theatre, like ship wrecked men on an island and whether that could be the basis of a show where these three hapless chaps charge around and investigate all the nooks and crannies that we know in theatres (lighting box, backstage etc) to find a way out.
“And then for some reason they suddenly became an Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman. And that’s why they are trapped. Because they are always trapped in those jokes: on a mountain, in a cable car, but also in a joke they can never get out of and where they play their roles endlessly. They are also trapped – as we all are- by the labels and stereotypes foisted on us.”
Will Adamsdale is best known for his Perrier Award Winning show Jackson’s Way and his most recent work Borders, premiered at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Lloyd Hutchinson has appeared in Stones in His Pockets as well as a number of productions at the National Theatre such as The Beaux’ Stratagem, Collaborators, and The Observer.
Brian Logan is the Artistic Director for Camden People’s Theatre and founder member and performer with Cartoon de Salvo. He is also the Guardian’s comedy critic.
The production is produced by Fuel, featuring designs by Michael Vale, Lighting by Ian Scott and choreography by Arthur Pita.
The Joke will appear at Camden People’s Theatre from the 17th May to the 4th June. For more information and to book tickets visit: https://www.cptheatre.co.uk/production/the-joke-2/.