Bang Bang! Cleese take on Feydeau farce to tour

Published: 20 October 2019
Reporter: Sheila Connor

Bang Bang!

John Cleese is to make his stage writing debut with Bang Bang!, based on Monsieur Chasse by Georges Feydeau, for a UK tour produced by Exeter Northcott Theatre and Dermot McLaughlin Productions.

The play, which is said to be a blend of French farce and Fawlty Towers, will open at the Northcott on 6 February and then tour until May. The cast will include Tessa Peake-Jones, Tony Gardner and Wendi Peters.

When Leontine, a respectable society lady, discovers that she's been hoodwinked by her husband, Duchotel, who's always pretending to go hunting but is really chasing after other 'prey', she vows to take revenge on the philanderer, but while Duchotel's away his lifelong friend comes calling—and he's on the hunt too.

Daniel Buckroyd directs with design from David Shields and lighting from David W Kidd.

Cleese said, "Farce is my greatest love—Fawlty Towers consisted of 12 farces, and I think UK audiences will love this hilarious classic."

Daniel Buckroyd, Artistic Director and Chief Executive at Exeter Northcott Theatre, said, "we're thrilled to be working with this fantastic team to launch this first UK tour of Bang Bang! here at the Northcott Theatre, partly because it's such a funny script and we've assembled such a great cast, but also because regional producing venues are the lifeblood of UK theatre, developing talent, growing audiences, providing the beating heart of a vibrant creative regional city like Exeter—so we're proud to be flying the flag for theatre 'Made in Devon' across the country."

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