Following a sell-out year on London’s West End, three successful UK tours and a season in Mumbai, the charmingly incompetent English gentleman Bertie Wooster and his unflappable valet Jeeves are packing their bags for a trip to Sydney. The iconic double act will be appearing in Perfect Nonsense for a strictly limited season in the Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House fromTuesday 23 to Sunday 28 August. Tickets are on sale from 9am on Friday 24 June and available online atsydneyoperahouse.com and ticketmaster.com.au or by calling Sydney Opera House on 02 9250 7777. Tickets can also be obtained at Sydney Opera House box office in person.
Winner of Best New Comedy at London’s 2014 Olivier Awards, the highly acclaimed comedy Perfect Nonsense layers joy on joy and joke on joke in a hilarious evening of theatrical absurdity.
Playing the role of Jeeves is Joseph Chance, who has performed at some of the UK’s most prestigious theatres and in numerous Shakespeare productions, including seasons with the world-famous Royal Shakespeare Company. Matthew Carter, who plays Wooster, has also performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, has appeared in the West End’s longest-running play The Mousetrap, and his film and television credits include Wallander and The Bill. As well as co-writing Perfect Nonsense,Robert Goodale has played the butler Seppings on the UK tour and now reprises his role for Sydney. He is an experienced Shakespearean actor with numerous Royal Shakespeare Company roles to his credit, as well as film and TV appearances, including Midsomer Murders, The Bill, Heartbeat, Foyle’s War and Holby City.
Bertie Wooster, the dim-witted, calamity-prone English toff, and his suave, shrewd manservant and solver of all problems – Jeeves, were the most famous creations of renowned English author P. G. Wodehouse. They first appeared in 1915, and thereafter in a total of 35 short stories and 11 novels recounting their hilarious escapades, making their final appearance in 1974 in Wodehouse’s last completed novel ‘Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen’. Perfect Nonsense is based on and adapted from Wodehouse’s literary works, and is written by brothers Robert and David Goodale.
When a country house weekend takes a turn for the worse, Bertie Wooster is unwittingly called on to play matchmaker and also to steal a silver cow-shaped cream jug from Totleigh Towers. Naturally, the ever-dependable Jeeves is there to save the day and prevent Bertie from making a fool of himself.
The supremely talented cast of three recounts the weekend’s escapades in an evening of raucous comedy, playing a colourful array of Wodehouse’s well-loved characters including Gussie Fink-Nottle, Madeline Bassett, Sir Watkin Bassett, Aunt Dahlia, Roderick Spode and Constable Oates.
Producer James Cundall, CEO of Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, said “We are thrilled to introduce toSydney audiences three acclaimed and versatile performers from the UK’s stage, television and movie screens, who take on multiple roles, keeping the story spinning at a hysterical pace. Their uniquedelivery will take comedy to a whole new level. The show is delightfully dotty, with a perfect dose of silliness and frivolity to transport you to another world.”
Though born in England, P.G. Wodehouse spent the first two years of his life in Hong Kong, where his parents lived, his father a magistrate. He later worked for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank in London for two years before becoming a full-time writer.
From 1902 until his death in 1975 aged 93, Wodehouse was a prolific writer of short stories, novels, scripts for both plays and Hollywood films, as well as lyrics for musical comedies – at one time he had five musicals running simultaneously on Broadway.
Jeeves and Wooster have become world-famous fictional characters, appearing in film, television and stage adaptations, most notably the British TV series ‘JEEVES AND WOOSTER’ starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie respectively. Both the name and character of Jeeves have over the years become known as the quintessential name for a valet or butler, and for all things associated with the role of a gentleman’s gentleman.
With clever and inventive staging, in the intimate setting of the Drama Theatre, Perfect Nonsense is laugh-out-loud funny, capturing the eccentricity and innocence of a bygone English era.
Original Director – Sean Foley. Adapted by The Goodale Brothers
Perfect Nonsense is produced by Mark Goucher and Mark Rubinstein and presented in Australia by Lunchbox Theatrical Productions.