Jeeves & Wooster stage show visits Newcastle

The Olivier award-winning West End comedy is set to arrive on Tyneside this Autumn.

Image: John Gordon Sinclair (Jeeves) and James Lance (Bertie Wooster) in Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense. Credit: Uli Weber.

The Olivier award-winning West End comedy Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense is set to arrive on Tyneside this autumn, starring James Lance and John Gordon Sinclair as P.G Wodehouse’s iconic double act.

A new play based on and adapted from the short stories and novels of Wodehouse by brothers Robert and David Goodale, Perfect Nonsense comes to Newcastle Theatre Royal for four nights on Tuesday 14 October, fresh from winning The Olivier Award Best New Comedy 2014.

Lance stars as the charmingly incompetent aristocrat Bertie Wooster and Sinclair as his dutiful, unflappable and ever well-informed valet Jeeves. While co-writer Robert Goodale plays the part of Seppings.

Lance is well-known for his numerous roles comedy series including Teachers, The Book Group, Smack the Pony and I’m Alan Partridge.

And Sinclair is an Olivier Award-winning Scottish actor best-known for playing Gregory in Bill Forsyth’s iconic 1981 film Gregory’s Girl.

Like many siblings growing up together, writers Robert and David Goodale enjoyed their own, very particular brand of humour.

As children they created a range of ridiculous characters that seamlessly evolved into members of their extended family.

It was only later that they discovered that P.G. Wodehouse had beaten them to it, in creating an entirely credible world full of even more deliciously bonkers characters.

As adults entering the real world, Robert became an actor, while David pursued a career as a documentary filmmaker, but both remained committed to making people laugh.

Two years ago they were encouraged to combine their comic talents to adapt P.G. Wodehouse’s The Code of the Woosters for the stage.

They finally put pen to paper, and several drafts later, with the blessing of the Wodehouse Estate, Perfect Nonsense was born.

The action commences when a country house weekend takes a turn for the worse and Bertie Wooster is unwittingly called on to play matchmaker, but also to steal a silver cow creamer from Totleigh Towers.

Naturally, the ever dependable Jeeves is there to prevent Bertie from making a fool of himself in front of a cast of Wodehouse’s finest characters.

An evening of raucous comedy, theatrical absurdity and ridiculous antics unfold in the company of Gussie Fink-Nottle, Madeline Bassett, Sir Watkin Bassett, Dahlia Travers, Roderick Spode and Constable Oates.

The production is directed by Sean Foley. He co-founded The Right Size, creating over ten original comedies for the theatre including the Olivier Award-winning and Tony-nominated production of The Play What I Wrote (Best Comedy 2002) and Do You Come Here Often? (Best Entertainment 1999).

His theatre credits also include the multi Olivier-nominated The Ladykillers that toured to Newcastle Theatre Royal in Spring 2013.

• Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense appears at Newcastle Theatre Royal from Tuesday 14 to Saturday 18 October 2014 (Evenings: 7.30pm, Matinees: Wednesday & Thursday 2pm and Saturday 2.30pm).
• Prices start at £13.00 (a booking fee of 95p – £1.95 will apply to most tickets) and can be purchased from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 or select your own seat and book online at theatreroyal.co.uk