8 /10 1 Votes
4/5 The Telegraph Genre Comedy Place premiered Richmond Theatre | 4/5 Daily Mail First performance 10 October 2013 Adapted from The Code of the Woosters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Written by David Goodale
Robert Goodale Date premiered 10 October 2013 (2013-10-10) Playwrights David Goodale, Robert Goodale Similar By Jeeves, The Beauty of Bath, The Cabaret Girl, Oh - Boy!, Oh - Lady! Lady!! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jeeves and wooster in perfect nonsense at the duke of york s theatre in london
Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense is a play written by David and Robert Goodale based on the 1938 novel The Code of the Woosters by P. G. Wodehouse. It made its world premiere at the Richmond Theatre in October 2013, then transferred later that month to the West End's Duke of York's Theatre where it is currently running. The production won the 2014 Laurence Olivier Award, for Best New Comedy.
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Plot
The plot revolves around Bertie Wooster deciding to stage a one-man show revolving around his recent experiences at Totleigh Towers, only to discover on the evening that, in typical Wooster fashion, nothing has gone to plan and the show is not ready to be staged. In desperation, he enlists Jeeves and another valet, Seppings, to help him stage the production, with Bertie as himself and both Jeeves and Seppings playing multiple characters. Both in the story Bertie is narrating and the play as it is being performed, events quickly spiral out of control, prompting Jeeves to step in to make sure all ends well.
Production history
Perfect Nonsense is written by brothers David and Robert Goodale and is based on P. G. Wodehouse's 1938 novel The Code of the Woosters. In June 2013, it was announced the show would be performed for the first time in October that year, with tickets going on sale immediately. The first authorized stage play based on Jeeves and Wooster is directed by Sean Foley, with design by Alice Power, lighting by James Farncombe and sound design by Max and Ben Ringham. The show had pre-West End try outs at Richmond Theatre (10–19 October) and the Theatre Royal, Brighton (22–26 October) before beginning previews at the Duke of York's Theatre, London on 30 October, with the official opening night on 12 November 2013. The lead roles of Jeeves and Wooster will be played by Matthew Macfadyen and Stephen Mangan. Initially booking to 8 March 2014, the production was later extended by six months to 20 September, with Macfadyen and Mangan continuing in their roles until 5 April, before being replaced by Mark Heap and Robert Webb
John Gordon Sinclair and James Lance took over the roles of Jeeves and Wooster from 30 June 2014 and on the subsequent national tour, with the play's co-writer Robert Goodale replacing Mark Hadfield as Seppings. It was announced on 18 August 2014 that the show will close in the West End on 20 September 2014.
On 20 February 2014, it was announced that Perfect Nonsense will tour the UK, beginning at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford on 24 September. It will continue to Cambridge, Newcastle, Norwich, Reading, Salford, Cheltenham, Southampton, Glasgow and Bath, where it will finish in December. The third West End cast will tour the production with John Gordon Sinclair as Jeeves, James Lance as Wooster and Perfect Nonsense co-writer Robert Goodale as Seppings. The tour will continue in February, with Jason Thorpe taking over as Jeeves and Robert Webb returning to the role of Wooster, with Christopher Ryan taking over as Seppings. It will visit Shrewsbury, Oxford, Sheffield, Harrogate, Chichester, Birmingham, Canterbury, Belfast, Malvern, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Woking, Truro, Edinburgh, Salisbury, Leeds and Cardiff, where it will finish in June.
The tour continued in September 2015, with co-writer Robert Goodale, returning as Seppings, Joseph Chance as Jeeves, and Matthew Carter as Wooster. The tour will visit Bury St. Edmunds, Aylesbury, Buxton, Crewe, Mold, Worthing, Exeter, Northampton, Ipswich, Southend, Colchester, Inverness, Dundee, Kingston and Derby, finishing in November.
In January 2016 Perfect Nonsense, opened at The National Centre For Performing Arts in Mumbai with, Robert Goodale, as Seppings, Joseph chance as Jeeves and Matthew Carter as Wooster.
In June 2016, it was announced that Perfect Nonsense would embark on an international tour with Robert Goodale as Seppings, Joseph Chance as Jeeves and Matthew Carter as Wooster. The tour began at Sydney Opera House, Followed by, Adelaide, Wellington, Hong Kong, Singapore, Chennai and Bangalore, finishing in November 2016