Performance

VenueRichmond Theatre
TownOuter London
CountyGreater London
From19th February 2007
To24th February 2007
WhenMon-Sat 19:45. Wed, Sat Mats 14:30
PricesFrom £13.00. To £26.00.
What is currently on at Richmond Theatre (V327)

The Last Laugh

The Last LaughT01422191633
In this hilarious and moving satire, a beleaguered comedy troupe writer who, obliged by law to submit his latest script for government approval, has to go toe-to-toe with a newly appointed hard-nosed government censor. As he diligently attempts to rework his play, incorporating the censor's multitudinous and unconventional edits, the most unlikely partnership starts to flourish and the men become engaged in a 'conspiracy of two', crafting the funniest play they can imagine, whilst the spectre of the outside world threatens to destroy everything.
Author Richard Harris (adapted from an original play by Koki Mitani)


Archive :: production:T01422191633, play:S1411749478, venue:V327

Production details

Reviews

Overall: 5.00
USER (06Feb07): I am contributing this article from Japan. As I am interested in the future of this play in UK, I would like to keep watching carefully English theater fansf response to this play. Mr. Kouki Mitani originally wrote this funny playfs script. The original Kouki Mitani's script is based upon the story of Mr. Sakae Kikutani , the scenarist. Who wrote many comedy scripts for the famous comedy actor Mr. Kenichi Enomoto i.e.gChaplin, Charliehin Japan. When Mr. Kenichi Enomoto was confered a decoration in 1950, he said that This decoration was not given to me but to the Mr. Sakae Kikutanifs great scenarios. During the World War II, in Japan the government suppressed scriptwriters harshly for fear lest the comedies would spread of the lazy atmosphere. Mr. Sakae Kikutani fought this harsh censorship with incredible patience and managed the theatrical company in those gPassion@periodh. But he was conscripted for military service and eventually become fallen soldier in China during the World War II. http://www.plib.net.pref.aomori.jp/top/museum/sakka/SAKKA50_PRO/‹e’J‰hPRO.HTML So for me, The Last Laugh is not a comedy but very special tragicomedy. This was put on the play in Russia successfully. I thought that Russian people experienced the same severe censorship in the past. I guess that is one of the reasons why they could understand this tragicomedy correctly. Thank you reading the foreignerfs strange English to the end. And hope that English fans would enjoy this funny play to their heart's content. 5

Add a Review


The name you give will be stored and displayed with this review


Company

Producer Bill Kenwright (in association with PARCO company limited Tokyo)
Director Bob Tomson
Design Michael Pavelka
Lighting Mark Henderson
Sound Brian Spence
Performer Martin Freeman (The Writer)
Performer Roger Lloyd-Pack (The Censor)
CORONAVIRUS: All UK venues closed on 16th March 2020, restrictions were lifted on 19th July 2021. Please note that iUKTDb archive listings between March 2020 and July 2021 may not be accurate as we did not receive details of all rescheduled and cancelled shows.

Listings powered by Dynamic Listing Ltd
Mastodon X - Twitter Multidomain certificate installed
© Dynamic Listing Ltd, UK. 1995-2024