Virtuoso ventriloquist, BAFTA nominee and British Comedy Award winner Nina Conti has announced a week’s run in the West End this spring, playing five consecutive nights at The Duke of York’s Theatre, from Tuesday 29th April – Saturday 3rd May 2025.
The run will see Conti bring her smash-hit live show ‘Whose Face Is It Anyway?’ - which was the best reviewed show at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe – back to London’s West End, after she quickly sold out four standalone performances at the Apollo Theatre over the past few months.
The West End announcement comes as Nina currently finishes the first sell-out 26-date leg of her UK tour of the show, with a tour extension of 13 further shows across the country already announced for this autumn (30th Sept – 30th Oct) due to phenomenal demand.
With her beloved monkey in tow, join Conti for ‘Whose Face Is It Anyway?’ as she presents an unparalleled, unscripted new show that delves deep into who we are, hijacking faces to spark a bold, hysterical reality warp.
On announcing the consecutive five-night run at The Duke Of York’s Theatre this spring, Conti said: “This show takes me and shakes me by the shoulders and I can barely tell you what happened when it's done. It's a maniacal force of nature but an utterly joyous one; I don't know what to expect any more than the audience members who join me in the masks.
I get an almighty kick out of the fact that I'll be standing on a stage which I have so often watched from the audience. It's a stunning old theatre, it reminds me of the Muppet Show and feels like a dream come true.”
Conti’s return to the Fringe in 2024 followed her previous critically acclaimed hour ‘The Dating Show’, which debuted at the Pleasance in 2022 to rave reviews, before touring the globe with a sell-out UK tour, shows at the Sydney Opera House, and culminating with a two-week residency at New York’s Soho Playhouse. You can watch ‘The Dating Show’ special on Nina’s YouTube channel here.
Elsewhere, Nina recently enjoyed the world premiere of her narrative film directorial debut ‘Sunlight’, which played to numerous screenings and rave reviews at the relaunched Edinburgh International Film Festival in August 2024. It is set for a wider release later this year, with details to follow.
Set in New Mexico, the film is a darkly funny and unconventional love story between a man and a woman who doesn’t want to come out of a monkey suit. In a clever reference to Conti’s own ventriloquism act, which throughout her career has seen her voicing her uncensored thoughts via a monkey puppet, this film is the upshot.
The film co-stars and was co-written with Shenoah Allen, of the Pyjama Men duo, and is executive produced by This Is Spinal Tap creator Christopher Guest. Earlier in 2024, Sunlight featured as part of the BFI and British Council’s annual ‘GREAT 8’ showcase at Cannes, which presents new feature films from the UK’s most exciting first and second-time filmmakers to international distributors and festival programmers.
In a continuation of her work with Christopher Guest, Nina has also recently finished filming as part of the cast of the upcoming sequel to the 1984 cult classic This Is Spinal Tap.
Across her career, comedian and ventriloquist Conti has won a British Comedy Award, appeared on Live at the Apollo', 'Russell Howard's Good News' & 'Sunday Night at the Palladium', and made a BAFTA nominated film - all without moving her lips.
Nina began her career as an actress at the Royal Shakespeare Company before the genius, and anarchic theatre director Ken Campbell inspired her to become a ventriloquist.
In 2008 she won the prestigious Barry Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for her solo show Complete and Utter Conti.
Other television credits include QI, The John Bishop Show and Chris O'Dowd's HBO series Family Tree. She was also a regular in Sony award-winning BBC Radio 4 show Clare and the Community.
The Duke Of York’s Theatre
St Martin’s Lane, London, WC2N 4BG
5 Night West End Run: Tuesday 29th April – Saturday 3rd May 2025
7.30pm performances (apart from Saturday 3rd May, 8.30pm)
Age restriction: 14+
Tickets on general sale now via ninaontour.com or thedukeofyorks.com.
Tickets from £27.50.
Picture by Steve Best
