The true story of a “comic and poignant encounter” between the gentlemanly Sir Clive Sinclair and pragmatic Alan Sugar is behind Together in Electric Dreams which will have four performances at Buxton Festival Fringe.
In 1983 electronic pioneer Clive Sinclair was knighted for services to British industry. But after a number of disastrous new products such as the infamous C5 electric car, his company Sinclair Electronics was facing bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, the industry's new leading figure had arisen: a former East End trader called Alan Sugar. The only hope for Sir Clive was that he could negotiate a rescue deal with his arch-rival over dinner in Sugar's chosen venue: a Japanese karaoke restaurant.
Daniel Thackeray from Oldham, Lancashire wrote the script and plays Sir Clive. He said, “the producer Gareth Kavanagh saw me in a fringe play in Manchester and approached me about playing Sir Clive simply because I looked just like him, apparently. I had no idea who Sir Clive was at the time!
“But, hedging my bets, I said I’d do it as long as he let me have a go at writing it. He was happy with what I did, and so far theatregoers seem to be too, so we keep trying to bring the show to new audiences.
“I’m very excited about bringing the show to Buxton as it’s a beautiful town and a magnificent fringe festival with very discerning audiences.”
Thackeray of Scytheplays and Kavanagh of Lass Productions are presenting Together in Electric Dreams at The Pauper’s Pit, Underground Venues, Buxton on Thursday 9 July and Thursday 16 July at 10PM; and Sunday 19 July and Wednesday 22 July at 1:15PM.