Whipping It Up
Richard Wilson stars in
Whipping It Up
The Lowry, Mon 19 – Sat 24 November 2007
Press night: Mon 19 November, 7.30pm
Whipping It Up, the sell-out smash hit comedy is set to take The Lowry by storm this November. SteveThompson’s timely, hilarious political satire opened at the Bush Theatre in London last year, and was extended due to public demand. Now having completed a successful run in the West End, Richard Wilson is ready to ‘whip up’ The Lowry.
Thompson’s razor-sharp play explores the machinations of Government, exposing the infamous workings of the Whips’ Office. Multi-award winning director and playwright Terry Johnson directs the stellar original cast, including Richard Wilson as the Chief Whip.
Topically, Whipping It Up is set in the precarious early days of a future David Cameron government, which clings on to a tiny majority of three. A week before Christmas, a seemingly straightforward piece of legislation suddenly takes on absurd political significance. Combined with the PM chummying up to the President in Washington, every trick is needed to keep the strays in line, particularly when there’s already the whiff of a leadership challenge in the air.
Battle-weary veterans of the game, the Chief Whip (Richard Wilson) and smooth-talking Deputy Alastair, are given the chance to pass on the mysteries of their Machiavellian craft to sharp-suited new boy Tim, whose chosen weapons are rather more brutal than the delicate ‘threat of a threat’ employed by the old guard. They're in for a long night, with boy scouts and ramblers threatening to riot in Whitehall, five Tory rebels on the loose, and both the press and the opposition rising to the scent of panic. MPs are manoeuvred like chess pieces as the evening progresses, but will the Whips manage to avoid checkmate without having to reveal the secrets hidden in their closely guarded safe?
Steve Thompson won the 2005 Meyer-Whitworth Award for his first play, Damages, and has since been writing extensively for television. For this, only his second play, and his first in the West End, his meticulous research into the closely-guarded secret world of the Whips has included input from Michael Portillo, Gyles Brandreth and several other anonymous sources.
Richard Wilson is best known for his role in One Foot In The Grave, which has won him numerous awards including a British Comedy Award and two BAFTAs. Recent television credits include The True Voice of Prostitution, two episodes of Dr Who and the starring role of Dr Donald Neuman in Born And Bred. Richard is also a Director and an Associate Director of the Royal Court where most recently he directed Rainbow Kiss. Last year he directed Primo at the National Theatre, starring Antony Sher, which transferred to Hampstead Theatre and then to Broadway. He has just finished directing the film version for HBO/BBC. In 1994 he was awarded the OBE for Services to Drama as a Director and Actor.
‘I used to be a Whip and I think that Steve Thompson has got it spot on’ Betty Boothroyd
‘A romp with, for this ex-Tory-backbencher, many horrid shudders of recognition. It wasn't a romp when it was you on the carpet.’ Matthew Parris
Posted on Tuesday, 23 October 2007 under Press Theatre Press