Really enjoyed being on Ronnie Barbour's show on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire yesterday, talking about Being Tommy Cooper. The interview is on listen again until next week: here, from about 1hr 31: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p016fvtp
 The full list of 39 dates and venues for the UK tour of Being Tommy Cooper is now online at the Being Tommy Cooper Tour website. The tour, produced by Franklin Productions, starts at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford on 3 May and runs through until the end of June. Damian Williams will play Tommy Cooper - the rest of the cast is still to be confirmed. It will be directed by Cecily Boys. The tour will visit Guildford, Margate, Hastings, Lowestoft, Winchester, Chesterfield, Southend, Bromley, Harlow, Hayes, Swindon, Peterborough, Torquay, Southsea, Hull, York, Liverpool, Blackpool, Lichfield, Milton Keynes, Croydon, Dartford, Weston-super-Mare, Birmingham, Swansea, Rhyl, Wellinborough, Brighton, Stoke, Newark, Wakefield, Edinburgh. For dates, venue details and links to bookings, go to www.beingtommycooper.co.uk The Being Tommy Cooper tour also has a Twitter account and Facebook page.  My new favourite Tommy Cooper clip... Update May - June 2013: Reviews of Being Tommy Cooper on tour Blackpook Gazette: "Highly recommended and a thought-provoking portrayal of a man who will always be loved by millions, yet wasn’t quite what he seemed." Peterborough Telegraph: "Tommy Cooper was a one-off. Much-copied but nevertheless unique. A man who could have an audience in stitches just by walking on stage. That Damian Williams matched that feat simply by donning his fez and walking to the front of the spotlit Key Theatre stage last night, is testament to both the writing (by Tom Green) of Being Tommy Cooper and the talent of the show’s star." The Southern Daily Echo: "This revealing new play is forensically accurate" The Derbyshire Times: "Super trouper Damian Williams triumphs in Being Tommy Cooper." The Stage: "Tom Green explores the tension between Cooper’s stage persona and the man himself. [Damian] Williams has an uncanny control of the audience, used to great effect during a scene in the second half - where he gets increasingly drunk and aggressive - in which he begins a magic trick, turns backstage and says, “They’re not laughing”, then turns to the audience to ask “why aren’t you laughing?”. Increasingly intense, he asks us to understand how hard it is being Tommy Cooper. You can hear a pin drop." The Public Reviews: "[Damian Williams'] characterisation of Cooper is a triumph... This production pulls no punches in its portrayal of Cooper and is well worth catching on tour." What's on Stage: "The play is full of great comedy but also some high drama...a must see for fans of Cooper." York Press: "...a fascinating insight into how one man can simultaneously be a national hero and his own worst enemy" Update March 2013: Being Tommy Cooper will be on tour across the UK throughout May and June 2013. Full details: www.beingtommycooper.co.uk. For updates see @tommytour on Twitter. Update 11.7.12: Being Tommy Cooper has received four nominations for the OffWestEnd.com Theatre Awards (Offies): Best New Play, Best Production, Best Male Actor (Damian Williams), Best Male Actor (James Benson) Update: Being Tommy Cooper's run at The Old Red Lion Theatre in London has now been extended until 21 July. Being Tommy Cooper Reviews ★★★★★ - Watford Observer / St Albans Review "One of the most stunning evenings I have spent in the theatre. Entertaining, funny and a fascinating insight into a Tommy Cooper that we knew far less about...Damian Williams performance as Tommy blew me away." ★★★★★ - Saul Reichlin for Remotegoat "Tom Green's brilliant, excoriating portrait of the essential Tommy Cooper. An unforgettable performance [from Damian Williams]...a marvellous production, it is all there before you. Just like that. A must-see." ★★★★★ - One Stop Arts "This is West-End, National Theatre virtuosity. Even if you're not a Tommy Cooper fan or you know little about his work, this show is a must-see." ★★★★★ - Aline Waites for Remotegoat "Totally rivetting...an extremely enjoyable evening" British Theatre Guide "The joy of director Cecily Boys’s visualisation of Tom Green’s bold new play is the feeling of actually watching a ‘show’. Of experiencing first-hand the strangely alluring mix of magic and comedy. Of watching the late, great Tommy Cooper....[Damian] Williams, like the Cooper we know and love, can make us laugh by just walking on stage. Yet the actor also carries a brooding shadow, like the Cooper behind closed doors, which constantly hints at an interior conflict—an angle played by Williams with great sympathy and style...While brave in its mission, Being Tommy Cooper is a slick, emotive and thoroughly entertaining portrait of one of the most popular comics of the 20th century." Here are some of the comments about the play on Twitter, via Storify: http://storify.com/tngee/being-tommy-cooper   My new play Being Tommy Cooper will run at the Old Red Lion Theatre in Islington from 12 June - 7 July 2012.
With Damian Williams as Tommy Cooper, James Benson as Miff Ferrie, and Gerald McDermott as Billy Glason. Directed by Cecily Boys. Design by Zahra Mansouri. Lighting by Simeon Miller. Sound design by Max Pappenheim. Booking details: http://www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk/being-tommy-cooper.htm Update: Reviews for Being Tommy Cooper (Tommy Cooper image by Danny Moreline)  My short play "Is There Anything I Could Wear" will be at Theatre 503 from March 5th - March 10th (Mon, Wed, Fri & Sat matinee) as part of Rapid Write Rewind.The cast will be Conor Short and Rachel Dale, and it will be directed by Cecily Boys.
Photo: Ben Crawford Here's the full information from Theatre 503 about Rapid Write Rewind (Book online) Rapid Write Response is an event in which we invite playwrights to write a short response to our current production, inspired by any aspect of the performance including thematic concerns or character observations. We choose the best responses to be rehearsed, directed and performed over one evening. For seven performances only, we have combined the very best of these responses to provide a writing extravaganza, "Rapid Write Rewind." These performances include responses to plays over the last 2 years and cover 9 of our previous productions. Featuring 16 writers within two programmes, the performances highlight the exciting array of talent of writers today. Programme One: Mon 5th / Wed 7th / Fri 9th / Sat 10th (3pm Matinee) Nick Wood - Come On Eileen (The Biting Point) Omar El -Khairy - Polling Booth (The Charming Man) Catherine Harvey - Building Walls (Beasts) Paul Murphy - The Census Taker (The Consultant) Tom Green - Is There Anything I Could Wear? (Madagascar) Catherine McDonald - What Sam Told Me (Slaves) Steve Lambert - Peter And Andy (Peter And Vandy) Rashid Razaq - Hardcore (Porn The Musical) Programme Two: Tue 6th / Thurs 8th / Sat 10th Ros Wylie - Free (Slaves) Christopher Harrisson - It Falls (The Swallowing Dark) Georgina Burns - Mary (The Biting Point) Afsaneh Gray - Old Bag (Beasts) Jon Barton - Solicit (The Consultant) Hannah Mulder - Seed (Breed) Karis Halsall - The Phantom (Madagascar) Chris Urch - Middle Of The Road (The Consultant)  I've been fortunate enough to win a competition run by the Bafta-award winning production company, Little Brother. Which means that I've signed a contract on the development of an idea for a TV series. Which is quite definitely a big opportunity.
Great reviews for Old Bomb Theatre's production of my play Talking In Bed at Theatre 503. London Festival Fringe ★★★★ "This play is a deftly-handled peek into the bedroom of four unrelated couples; and Tom Green’s observational comedy is highly watchable... What binds the characters most is that communication issues sleep under almost all pillows and, as the story unfolds the bedroom seems increasingly like a make-or-break gauntlet. Not everyone does makes it, but the insightful writing and honed direction keep you right there with them" Remotegoat ★★★★ "Sharp, funny, touching, dramatic, thoughtful" Spoonfed: "Tom Green’s punchy play, Talking In Bed at Theatre 503 oozes the sometimes uncomfortable truths experienced by bed-sharers, lovers and mismatches alike...Green exposes the naked truth – literally – and delves into the unspoken, unnamed and uncomfortable with ease and simultaneous daring." The cast for the production were: Joseph Glynn, Rachel Dale, James Holmes, Ben Farrow, Adele Lynch, Martin Pirongs Vera Chok and Dan MacLane. Directed by Cecily Boys Designed by Zahra Mansouri Lighting design: Simeon Miller Sound design: George Dennis Photos by Ben Crawford      My new play Talking In Bed is at Theatre 503 in London from Jan 10th 2011, directed by Cecily Boys for Old Bomb Theatre Productions.
My new radio drama, For Ever England, will be broadcast as an Afternoon Play on BBC Radio 4 at 2.15pm on 22nd September 2010 (and will be on BBC iPlayer for a week after that). The cast is Gerard Horan, Tracie Bennett, Claire Harry, Alison Pettitt and Carl Rice and it is directed by Toby Swift. The summary from the BBC Programmes page is: Now living abroad, Steve discovers his estranged son Matt has been killed serving in Afghanistan. He returns to England anxious to do the right thing. But how do you begin to grieve for a child you never really knew? Update: The Daily Mail ★★★★ "A tough and moving drama" The Independent "Pick of the day"  Gerard Horan Here's the For Ever England script - not quite the final version, but close enough. |
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