Sonia Friedman Productions And Tulchin Bartner Productions Announce The Limited Run Return Of THE COMEBACK
Sonia Friedman Productions and Tulchin Bartner Productions in association with Playing Field, Eilene Davidson Productions, Rupert Gavin/Mallory Factor, David Mirvish present THE COMEBACK A new comedy by Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen
THE COMEBACK RETURNS TO THE NOËL COWARD THEATRE FOR A LIMITED 3-WEEK RUN FROM JULY 7TH – JULY 25TH 2021
TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY 30TH APRIL, WITH OVER 1,000 TICKETS A WEEK AVAILABLE AT £25 OR UNDER
HILARIOUS AND HEARTWARMING, THE COMEBACK DEPICTS THE BACKSTAGE TUSSLE OF TWO RIVAL COMEDY DUOS IN A DIZZYING CONTEMPORARY FARCE
AFTER RECEIVING WIDESPREAD CRITICAL ACCLAIM AND FIVE-STAR REVIEWS, THE ORIGINAL RUN WAS CUT SHORT DUE TO THE DECEMBER LOCKDOWN
WITH PREVIOUS SURPRISE CAMEOS INCLUDING SIR IAN McKELLEN, JOANNA LUMLEY, GRAHAM NORTON & DANNY DYER, MORE SURPRISE GUESTS WILL FEATURE AT EVERY PERFORMANCE OF THE COMEBACK
THE PRODUCTION WILL TAKE PLACE UNDER SOCIAL DISTANCING GUIDELINES, AND IN LINE WITH SOLT’S SEE IT SAFELY CAMPAIGN.
The Comeback is the debut play from The Pin’s award-winning Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen. Its mix of hilarity, emotional heart and irresistible charm offers the perfect escapism for audiences of all ages. The Comeback first opened to rave reviews in December 2020, before being shut down after just 9 performances due to the government-enforced national lockdown. Now, the producers and creative team are delighted to bring back The Comeback for a limited 3-week run at the Noël Coward Theatre this July.
The Comeback, tells the story of two double acts fighting to wrest control of the most chaotic, farcical and high-stakes gig of their respective careers. Directed by Emily Burns, The Comeback promises to bring heart-warming joy and laughter to the Noël Coward Theatre this summer.
Up-and-coming comics Alex and Ben have been booked in the warm-up spot for a beloved but fading double act’s comeback tour. Neither duo is delighted to be playing to a sparse crowd in a sleepy, seaside town, but when it’s revealed that a Hollywood director is in the audience, both acts glimpse a final chance for their big break. Cue sabotage, mistaken identity and full on farcical mayhem, as the performance descends into a desperate battle for the limelight. With the action alternating between offstage and on, and the tone between Noises Off and Morecambe and Wise’s old-school charm, this is a warm-hearted, joyful, and dazzlingly funny new comedy.
Each night Ashenden and Owen will be joined on stage by a surprise celebrity guest star playing a cameo role in the production.
The production will be staged in a Covid safe environment following current government advice, with audiences adhering to social distancing guidelines; and in line with Society of London Theatre's See It Safely campaign.
LISTINGS
Sonia Friedman Productions presents
THE COMEBACK
Written by and starring Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen (known as The Pin)
Directed by Emily Burns
Set and Costume Design by Rosanna Vize
Lighting Design by Prema Mehta
Sound Design by Giles Thomas
First performance 7th July 7.30pm
Final performance 25th July 2.30pm
Performance schedule: Tuesday to Saturday at 7.30pm, Wednesday (except July 7th), Saturday and Sunday at 2.30pm
Tickets from £10
There will be no official press performance, however press tickets, subject to availability, are available on request from July 9th at 7.30pm
Find THE COMEBACK on Facebook: @TheComebackComedy, Twitter and Instagram: @TheComebackPlay
#TheComeback
About Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen
BEN ASHENDEN and ALEX OWEN have recorded four series of their critically lauded show 'The Pin' for BBC Radio 4, picking up nominations at the Writers Guild Awards and Radio Academy Awards, and winning the BBC Radio Award for Best Comedy. They have recently finished working on Judd Apatow's upcoming Netflix film, ‘The Bubble’.
They've also created the animated series 'Oi, Leonardo!' for BBC3 and the podcast 'The Special Relationship' for Audible, as well as writing for BBC1 shows 'Walliams and Friend’ and 'Tracey Ullman's Show,' BBC3 series ‘Famalam,’ and Showtime’s ‘Who is America?’
Having won a wide following with a series of brilliantly observed and sharply witty spoof Zoom videos released on Twitter, they count Stephen Fry, Jack Whitehall, Dara O' Brien, and James Corden amongst their celebrity fans, and have recently filmed roles in the new Jurassic World film and 'What's Love Got to do With It', with Lily James and Emma Thompson.
Ben's other acting credits include 'Bridget Jones Baby,' ‘Avenue 5,' (HBO) and ‘W1A,' (BBC1) and Alex's include ‘Victoria,' (ITV) ‘This Time with Alan Partridge,' (BBC1) and ‘Wannabe.' (BBC3) They have both appeared in ‘Stath Lets Flats’ (C4) and Sky Christmas special ‘After Ever After.’
About Emily Burns
EMILY BURNS is Resident Director at the National Theatre. Directing work includes: Travesty for Fight in the Dog; Nesting (The Watermill); Britney (Soho Theatre); Margaret Atwood Live for Fane Productions; The Other Side of the Sea (King’s Place); Esio Trot (Edinburgh Fringe). As Associate Director: Romeo and Juliet (National Theatre / Sky / PBS) Antony & Cleopatra and Hansard (National Theatre); The Book of Dust, Julius Caesar and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Bridge). As dramaturg, Romeo and Juliet (National Theatre / Sky / PBS), Timon of Athens for the RSC, TFANA New York, STC Washington; Much Ado About Nothing (STC, Washington).
About Sonia Friedman Productions
SONIA FRIEDMAN PRODUCTIONS (SFP) is an international production company responsible for some of the most successful theatre productions in London and New York.
Since 1990, SFP has developed, initiated and produced over 170 new productions and together the company has won a staggering 58 Olivier Awards, 30 Tonys and 2 BAFTAs.
In 2019, Sonia Friedman OBE was awarded ‘Producer of the Year’ at the Stage Awards for a record breaking fourth time. In 2018, Friedman was also featured in TIME 100, a list of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. In 2017 she took the number one spot in 'The Stage 100', becoming the first number one in the history of the compilation not to own or operate West End theatres and the first solo woman for almost 20 years.
Productions that were running at the point of shutdown in March 2020 include: The Book of Mormon, West End and UK & European Tour, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London, New York, Melbourne, San Francisco & Hamburg, Mean Girls on Broadway and US Tour, The Inheritance on Broadway, the world premiere of Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt at Wyndham’s Theatre, London and Uncle Vanya at the Harold Pinter Theatre.
Forthcoming productions include: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in Toronto & Tokyo, To Kill a Mockingbird at the Gielgud Theatre, London, Walden, J’Ouvert & Anna X as part of the RE:EMERGE season at the Harold Pinter Theatre, The Shark is Broken at the Ambassadors Theatre, London, Oedipus and Dreamgirls UK Tour.
Previous theatre productions include: Mean Girls (Broadway), Fiddler on the Roof, Rosmersholm, The Ferryman, The Inheritance, Summer and Smoke, Dreamgirls, The Jungle, All About Eve, Consent, The Birthday Party, Ink, Hamlet starring Andrew Scott, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Travesties, The Glass Menagerie, Nice Fish, A Christmas Carol, Funny Girl, Farinelli and The King, Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch, 1984, Sunny Afternoon, Bend It Like Beckham, The Nether, The River, Electra, King Charles III, Shakespeare in Love, Ghosts, Mojo, Chimerica, Merrily We Roll Along, Old Times, Twelfth Night and Richard III, A Chorus of Disapproval, The Sunshine Boys, Hay Fever, Absent Friends, Top Girls, Betrayal, Much Ado About Nothing, Clybourne Park, The Children’s Hour, A Flea in Her Ear, La Bête, All My Sons, Private Lives, Jerusalem, A Little Night Music, Legally Blonde, Othello, Arcadia, The Mountaintop, The Norman Conquests, A View From the Bridge, Dancing at Lughnasa, Maria Friedman: Re-Arranged, La Cage aux Folles, No Man’s Land, The Seagull, Under the Blue Sky, That Face, Dealer’s Choice, Hergés Adventures of Tintin, In Celebration, Boeing-Boeing, Th
TV & Film productions include Uncle Vanya (Exec Producer), J’Ouvert (Executive Producer), BBC’s Wolf Hall (co-producer), The Dresser (Exec Producer) and King Lear with Anthony Hopkins (Exec Producer).
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