PAUL Hendy, award-winning Evolution Productions writer and director, is a familiar name in York from his five pantomime collaborations with the Theatre Royal.
Now, his new play The Last Laugh, premiered at last summer’s Edinburgh Fringe, will play the Grand Opera House from June 10 to 14 after a West End run in London.
Penned and directed by Hendy, the play re-imagines the lives of three of Great Britain’s greatest comedy heroes, Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe and Bob Monkhouse, in a nostalgic show replete with gags, badinage and poignant stories.
The tour is being mounted by Evolution Productions in tandem with producer Jamie Wilson, the impresario behind tours of Sister Act The Musical and The Devil Wears Prada. “Jamie flew up on the last day of our sold-out Edinburgh Fringe run at the Assembly Rooms and nudged me to say ‘we’re taking this to the West End’,” recalls Paul. “I knew I had something that people were responding to. The reaction was overwhelming.”
Jamie says: “The young team here at JWP were bowled over by the relevance of their timeless comedy and after seeing it myself in Edinburgh, I just knew it had to have a further life so many more people could experience it.
“What is so brilliant about this play is the audiences who love and remember Eric, Tommy and Bob will be able to relive their comedy greatness, and those that don’t will be introduced to the genius of these national treasures. I’m so pleased these icons will be back on stage for audiences to enjoy.”
The Last Laugh will run at the Noel Coward Theatre, London, from February 25 to March 22 before heading out on tour in June.
In the cast will be Bob Golding as Eric Morecambe, after his Olivier Award-nominated portrayal of Eric in the West End hit Morecambe at the Duchess Theatre; Sheffield Lyceum pantomime dame Damian Williams as Tommy Cooper, after starring in the tour of Being Tommy Cooper, and actor and impressionist Simon Cartwright as Bob Monkhouse, fresh from appearing as York-born Frankie Howerd in the UK tour of Howerd’s End.
Why feature Monkhouse, rather than Howerd as the third comedy legend in The Last Laugh, Paul? “When you see it, it will make sense. Ultimately it’s a show about comedy, but more than that, the life and death of three contrasting comedians, gathered in a dressing room to talk about life, death and comedy, with their three differing approaches to comedy” he says.
“Tommy Cooper was a natural comedian. That was almost a curse as people would just laugh in his presence. He was an innate comedian: whatever he did was funny.
“Eric was born funny but he needed writers, whereas Tommy didn’t: even a rubbish Tommy joke would get a laugh!
“Bob Monkhouse – who I met, what a lovely man – was not a naturally funny man but he really understood comedy and was a scholar of comedy, working a joke down to the minimum number of words, and polishing it, to make it work.
“Bob was fascinated by how Tommy Cooper was naturally funny; he would say, how do you do it?’, and Tommy would say, ‘I just do’. Eric was in the middle, so funny but requiring material.”
The Last Laugh lets them have fun together. “It was interesting to see how the three of them would work off each other,” says Paul. “I’d already done a 20-minute film version, which did really well on the film circuit in 2017, winning a Best Film award in Manchester and at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, and I’d always thought there was more to be mined, more to be explored.
“I analyse how comedy works for my play and panto scripts – I’m a massive Eric and Tommy fan, but I’m more like Bob in working out how comedy works, and that’s what they’re talking about in this play. What do they do when they get a laugh and then chase the next one and why do they do that?
“They were three people at the top of their game undoubtedly, which is why there’s still a lot of love for them. Tommy and Eric died within six weeks of each other 40 years ago and yet here we are, still discussing them. Is there anyone today who will have that lasting impact? Maybe Peter Kay.”
Paul wrote The Last Laugh expressly for Golding, Williams and Cartwright. “Damian is a great friend who I direct each year in the Sheffield Lyceum pantomime, where he’s been the dame for 17 years,” he says.
“Bob plays panto dame too in St Albans, and they both have as much passion for these comedians and the world they’re in as I do. We’ve all read the books, so this show is done with love. Simon was incredible in Howerd’s End, and he’s wonderful in this show too.”
The Last Laugh will be bound for the Brits Off Broadway season in New York, but as for old York, why is Paul’s play playing the Grand Opera House, not the Theatre Royal? “It came down to availability when Jamie Wilson was putting the tour together,” he says.
Last question, Paul: who has the last laugh in The Last Laugh? “I don’t want to give it away,” he says. “You’ll have to see it to find out! But it’s a good expression for what they do, with three comedians each trying to top each other as they always do.”
Jamie Wilson Productions and Emily Wood for Evolution Productions present TheLastLaugh, Grand Opera House, York, June 10 to 14, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
