The Duck House | |
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Written by | Dan Patterson Colin Swash |
Date premiered | 23 October 2013 |
Place premiered | Yvonne Arnaud Theatre |
Genre | Comedy Farce, Satire |
The Duck House is a 2013 comedy farce play written by Dan Patterson and Colin Swash. It is based around the events of the 2009 UK parliamentary expenses scandal, and made its world premiere at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in October 2013, at the start of a five-week UK tour. The production then transferred to the West End's Vaudeville Theatre, [1] where it ran until 29 March 2014. [2]
The play is set in May 2009, one year before the General Election, Gordon Brown's Labour government is unpopular. Robert Houston is a Labour backbencher seeking to defect to the Conservatives to keep his seat, when the expenses scandal hits the papers the day before his interview with Sir Norman Cavendish to complete the switch. Houston is in trouble and so is his staff (his wife Felicity, his son Seb and his Russian housekeeper Ludmilla) [3] and somehow Seb's girlfriend Holly becomes involved with Sir Norman. [4] [5] [6] What follows is a comedy of errors as Houston and his family try to cover their expenses claims including a massage chair, [7] a glittered toilet seat, [8] hanging baskets and an ornamental duck house. [9]
The Duck House is a farce [10] political satire written by Mock the Week's producer Dan Patterson and Have I Got News for You writer Colin Swash. [11] Set during Gordon Brown's tenure as Prime Minister [12] it is based on the events of the 2009 UK parliamentary expenses scandal. [3] [13] The show's title is in reference to one specific MP's expense claim – that of Sir Peter Viggers of £1,645 for a duck house at his constituency home. [14] [15] The production is directed by Terry Johnson [16] featuring set and costume design by Lez Brotherston, sound by John Leonard and lighting by Mark Henderson. [17] The show held a pre-West End tour starting in October 2013 at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford [18] with further dates in Malvern, Nottingham and Cambridge [19] before beginning previews at the Vaudeville Theatre, London [20] on 27 November 2013, [16] with an official opening night on 10 December, [21] booking until 29 March 2014. [1] The shows lead roles are played by Ben Miller, [22] Debbie Chazen, James Musgrave and Simon Shepherd. [23] Whilst speaking about the show Miller said 'They say that comedy equals tragedy plus time, and traumatic as the expense scandal was hopefully we can all now have a bloody good laugh about it. And if any MPs don't like it they can always claim for it on expenses.' [24] Only one politician attended the shows opening night, former Labour home secretary Alan Johnson. [25] A typical performance runs two hours and 15 minutes, including one interval of 15 mins. [26]
Character | Original pre and West End performer [27] [28] |
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Robert Houston | Ben Miller |
Felicity Houston | Nancy Carroll |
Sir Norman Cavendish | Simon Shepherd |
Holly | Diana Vickers |
Ludmilla | Debbie Chazen |
Seb | James Musgrave |
Voice of Radio DJ | Graham Norton |
Voice of Harriet Harman | Jessica Martin |
Voice of Charlotte Green | Charlotte Green |
Voice of Gavin Esler | Gavin Esler |
The production received mixed to positive reviews. Charles Spencer in The Telegraph wrote that the show featured some "sublime comic moments" and that "Subtle it certainly ain’t, but at its ribald best The Duck House proves genuinely hilarious." [29] The Metro described actor Ben Miller as an "unimpeachable, amazingly assured comic presence throughout" and described the direction of Terry Johnson as delivered with "verve and precision". [30]
Some were more critical. Dominic Maxwell in The Times noted the show was by first time playwrights and the play started "fast and it’s really funny", but felt the show's plot structure didn't ultimately have enough support to it. He concluded however that "plenty of the crowd kept laughing till the end." [31] Ian Shuttleworth of The Financial Times felt that although the play was "topical" it took "passing shots at pretty much every other political “outrage” of recent years" and as such was "lazier even than a dedicated couch potato." He did however praise what he called a "fine production", praising Johnson's attention to the "broad farce and the sardonic one-liners" and praising Miller as an "effective linchpin." [32]
Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | Laurence Olivier Award | Best New Comedy | Nominated [33] | [34] | |
Sir Peter John Viggers was a British Conservative politician and lawyer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Gosport for 36 years, from 1974 to 2010. He stepped down as a result of the investigation of MPs' expenses.
Bennet Evan Miller is an English actor, comedian, and author. He rose to fame as one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller. Miller is also known for playing the lead role of DI Richard Poole in the first two series of the BBC crime drama Death in Paradise, and for portraying James Lester in the ITV science-fiction series Primeval.
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Dame Maria Frances Miller is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Basingstoke since 2005. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport from 2012 to 2014 under Prime Minister David Cameron.
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Katherine Jane Parkinson is an English actress. She appeared in Channel 4's The IT Crowd comedy series as Jen Barber, for which she received a British Comedy Best TV Actress Award in 2009 and 2014, and was nominated twice for the BAFTA Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance, winning in 2014. Parkinson studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and has appeared on stage in the plays The Seagull (2007), Cock (2009), and Home, I'm Darling (2018), for which she was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play.
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The United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal was a major political scandal that emerged in 2009, concerning expenses claims made by members of the British Parliament in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords over the previous years. The disclosure of widespread misuse of allowances and expenses permitted to Members of Parliament (MPs) aroused widespread anger among the UK public and resulted in a large number of resignations, sackings, de-selections and retirement announcements together with public apologies and the repayment of expenses. Several members or former members of both the House of Commons, and members of the House of Lords, were prosecuted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment.
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