Robert Kitson: Replacing Simon Rouse in the role of Jim Hacker in I’m Sorry Prime Minister
SIR Keir Starmer is not the only Prime Minister being replaced.
More precisely, ex-Prime Minister, in the case of the 2026 tour of I’m Sorry, Prime Minister after illness forced Simon Rouse out of the cast a fortnight ago, to be replaced by Robert Kitson, who is playing Jim Hacker for the remaining dates, including this week’s visit to the Grand Opera House, York.
“It’s very sad that Simon had to leave the show, and we send him our best wishes for a speedy recovery,” says Robert. “He was so loved by the company while he was here, but it’s now a fortunate opportunity for me.
“I wasn’t Simon’s understudy for the tour but I did understudy Griff Rhys Jones as Jim Hacker in the West End, and because I knew the part and we’d done an understudy run during the six months in London [at the Apollo Theatre), I was asked to take over.
“One of the other understudies did a couple of dates, before I arrived last Monday (June 22) to open at the Cheltenham Everyman that Tuesday. “
Robert continues: “I’m very delighted to be having this extended run, where I’ve played Cheltenham and Milton Keynes and York, Brighton, Southend and Malvern are still to come.
“I haven’t appeared on the York stage before, but I love the city and I’m really looking forward to doing the play there.”
Written and directed by Jonathan Lynn and co-directed by Michael Gyngell, I’m Sorry, Prime Minister is the long-awaited final chapter of the British political satire that brought BAFTA awards for the television series Yes, Minister (1980 to 1984) and Yes, Prime Minister (1986 to 1988), when co-written with Antony Jay.
Jim Hacker is back, older, but perhaps not wiser, and still utterly baffled by the real world. Hoping for a quiet retirement from government as the master of Hacker College, Oxford, Jim instead finds himself facing the ultimate modern crisis: cancelled by the college committee.
Enter Sir Humphrey Appleby (played by Clive Francis, reprising his West End role), who has lost none of his love for bureaucracy, Latin phrases and well-timed obstruction in a finale replete with wit, nostalgia and more double-speak than a press briefing.
“Do you know what, you can really feel the affection the audiences have for the characters,” says Robert. “Before Sir Humphrey comes on, you can hear an ‘ooh’ from the audience when I mention his name.
“People loved the TV series, and the relationship between Sir Humphrey and Jim, but this play is set later and so the relationship is now different. A lot of the play is about these people re-finding themselves and coping with their lives now.
“It makes for a very different dynamic where the audiences are initially surprised but then they do get into it. This is only my personal opinion, but I think the re-discovery and re-defining of the relationship, when seeing each other again after a long time, is what works so well, as they’re now older men, infirm, and they no longer have the resources they did when they were in their peak years.”
Robert further elucidates: “There are two levels to it. They have to cope with the fact they don’t have the status they once did, and although Sir Humphrey was always the cleverer once, the more sly and conniving one, sometimes Jim got the better of him and that now continues in old age where they still spar with each other.”
When on understudy duty in London, Robert had enjoyed watching Clive and Griff working together. “They were different in their styles, so it was like a masterclass observing them,” he says.
Clive Francis’s Sir Humphrey Appleby, left, and Simon Rouse’s Jim Hacker at the promotional photoshoot for I’m Sorry, Prime Minister. Simon has had to leave the tour through illness
“Clive is a master craftsman in his coming timing and delivery, and now that it’s the two us, I’m finding that just as important is how every performance is different because the audience laughter can come in different places, so there’s that the unexpected element, which is the essence of live theatre.”
In addition, Robert has drawn on his experience of being present when writer-director Jonathan Lynn gave notes to the London cast both in rehearsal and after the early performances.
“I got the benefit of that as everything is written with particular weighting and he’s particular about how lines should be said,” he says, further praising the director and Michael Gyngell for their ability to bring the company together. “It’s been great for me to have all people around me, on or off the stage, who are so good at what they do.”
Sir Keith Starmer’s imminent departure from Number 10 could not be better timed for I’m Sorry, Prime Minister. “It’s really interesting because we’ve found the play has resonance that’s reflecting what’s going on at the moment,” says Robert.
“The fact that the Prime Minister’s post has changed over the past two weeks can’t help but have an echo on stage.”
One further factor is Jim Hacker’s politics and behaviour in 2026. “Jim says and does some awful things and has some unacceptable views – and that’s interesting for the audience too,” says Robert.
“You have to give it 100 per cent in rehearsals and on stage, leaving your own beliefs at the [dressing room] door.”
The Barn Theatre production of I’m Sorry, Prime Minister plays Grand Opera House, York, from tomorrow to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.