WEST END TRANSFER

The Georgian era gave us many things, the cure for small pox, Mr Darcy, acceptable day time drinking, a great series of Blackadder. But perhaps one of the periods contributions to popular culture is lesser known: our ravenous obsession with the lifestyles of the rich and famous. From the wild excesses of Beau Nash to the scandalous life of The Duchess of Devonshire, our finely attired forebears lapped up everything to do with fame and no one was more popular than the larger-than-life Samuel Foote. Aptly named due to an unfortunate riding accident, the monopedal Mr Foote was the first to turn celebrity into an artform.

Who was Samuel Foote?

Simon Russell Beale stars in Ian Kelly's riotous comedy about the life of Mr Foote. An actor, manager, satirist and the man who managed to stage Otello as a comedy. He took the notion of selling your personality and ran with it, all the while puzzling his friends and colleagues, Prince George (later George III, yeah, that one), Benjamin Franklin and the actor David Garrick to name a few, into wondering if fame really does send one mad.

After a highly successful run at the Hampstead Theatre, Mr. Foote comes to the Theatre Royal Haymarket, the site of many of the real man's achievements, for a limited time only!

In our celebrity obsessed age, Ian Kelly's play gives us a mirthful and yet sorrowful look into where it all began and the effect that mass publicity can have on an individual from the Oscar Wilde of his day.