Rufus Hound and Matt Lucas are both taking lead roles at Chichester Festival Theatre this year.
Rufus Hound plays Garry Essendine, an actor wrestling with his own self-image, in Noël Coward’s Present Laughter – the role Coward wrote for himself. It’s a comedy about sex, fame and the theatre itself, and runs from 20 April – 12 May.
Matt Lucas makes his Chichester debut in the musical comedy Me and My Girl, playing a Cockney barrow boy who discovers he’s an Earl. Caroline Quentin also stars in this ‘Lambeth Walk’ musical, which plays from 2 July – 25 August.
Further details below.
Rufus Hound, Katherine Kingsley and Tracy-Ann Oberman in
PRESENT LAUGHTER by Noël Coward
Directed by Sean Foley
20 April – 12 May, Festival Theatre
Actor, comedian and presenter Rufus Hound returns to Chichester following Neville’s Island (2013). His stage work also includes the National Theatre’s One Man, Two Guvnors, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Wind in the Willows in the West End, Don Quixote for the RSC and The War of the Roses at the Rose, Kingston. His extensive screen work includes The Wedding Video, Trollied, Drunk History, Doctor Who and Zapped.
Tracy-Ann Oberman plays Monica, returning to Chichester after playing Golde in the hit production of Fiddler On The Roof at Chichester last summer. Her stage credits also include Boeing-Boeing and Stepping Out in the West End, while extensive TV work includes New Tricks, EastEnders, Toast of London and Friday Night Dinner.
Sean Foley’s hit West End productions include The Painkiller, Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense (Olivier Award for Best Comedy), The Ladykillers, The Dresser (at Chichester in 2016) and the multi award-winning The Play What I Wrote.
Matt Lucas and Caroline Quentin in ME AND MY GIRL
Book & Lyrics by L Arthur Rose and Douglas Furber
Book revised by Stephen Fry with contributions by Mike Ockrent
Music by Noel Gay
Directed by Daniel Evans
2 July – 25 August, Festival Theatre
Matt Lucas and Caroline Quentin make their Chichester debuts in Chichester Festival Theatre’s summer musical ME AND MY GIRL, directed by Daniel Evans and running from 2 July – 25 August, with a press night on 9 July.
Matt Lucas plays Bill Snibson, the Cockney barrow boy who discovers he’s an Earl. Known to a television audience of millions for the smash hit TV series Little Britain, his theatre work includes the role of Thenardier in Les Misérables in the West End. His recent screen credits include Doctor Who, Alice in Wonderland, Paddington and Bridesmaids.
Caroline Quentin plays the Duchess of Dene. One of television’s most popular actors from series such as Men Behaving Badly, Jonathan Creek and Dickensian, her recent stage work includes The Hypocrite (RSC) and Relatives Values (West End).
Box Office 01243 781312
Online cft.org.uk
