A dishonourable member

13 December 2006

Rik Mayall in The New Statesman

RIK MAYALL returns to the West End to recreate one of his most popular characters in the premiere of The New Statesman - Alan B'Stard's Extremely Secret Weapon.

The play, written by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, is at Trafalgar Studio 1 in Whitehall for a limited season until January 27.

Despite having a country to run and regardless of who's in Number 10, B'Stard's latest concern is joining the Trillionaires' Club.

This exclusive club boasts eight figures who own most of the world's oil (three Yanks, two Arabs, an Indian, a Russian and that guy who invented milk cartons). Condolezza Rice has the key, but will she allow Alan access all areas?

Rik Mayall played B'Stard in four series of The New Statesman on ITV, for which he won several awards.

His prolific television career includes Bottom, Blackadder, The Young Ones, The Comic Strip Presents... and All About George. His West End stage work includes Waiting For Godot, The Common Pursuit and The Government Inspector.

Lysette Anthony plays Arabella Lucretia B'Stard, Garry Cooper is Frank, Helen Baker is Flora, Alexandra Gunn is Condoleeza and Kamaal Hussein plays Habibi.

Legendary writers Marks and Gran, who wrote the television series The New Statesman, have written a new satirical stage comedy.

B'Stard is now New Labour, and the show, which is updated to today, will constantly be changed to reflect the news of the moment.

Marks and Gran with producer Allan McKeown are responsible for many television productions, including Shine on Harvey Moon, Birds of a Feather, Goodnight Sweetheart and Love Hurts.

The story has been rewritten since the successful spring tour of The New Statesman - Episode 2006: The Blair B'Stard Project.

This production is produced by Howard Panter for Ambassador Theatre Group and Allan McKeown.

Performance times at Trafalgar Studio 1 will be Mondays to Saturdays at 7.30pm, with Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm.

Tickets, priced from £25-£45, are available from the Trafalgar Studios box office on 0870 060 6632 or online at www.theambassadors.com/trafalgarstudios.