BORIS REX
OSO Arts Centre, Barnes, 30 Apr-3 May, 8pm
York International Shakespeare Festival (Dogrose Theatre), 12 May, 8pm

Brighton Fringe (The Warren), 15-19 May, 6.15pm

Latitude Festival, 20th July
Camden Fringe (Tristan Bates Theatre), 5-10 Aug, 7.45pm

 

“Why I can smile... and bumble while I smile”

 

The story of Boris Johnson as a Shakespearean tragicomedy, BORIS REX follows its perfidious anti-hero from the boorish days of Oxford University, right through to a blood-soaked General Election, to spin a murky tale of ambition, back-stabbing and ultimately... a national catastrophe. Borrowing elements from both Julius Caesar and Richard III, the play fuses original verse with newly-penned pentameters, spoken word, comedy and rap, and a visual aesthetic somewhere between Greek tragedy and dreadful clown.

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Charlie Dupré | Writer

Dupré is a spoken word and rap artist known for combining literary in uences with a pulsing, characterised delivery. Described by Annexe Magazine as ‘a unique brand of poetic wizardry’, he has supported Scroobius Pip, Ghostpoet and Kate Tempest. He is also a four-time Hammer and Tongue national nalist, and a Jerwood/Arvon Playwriting Mentee (2019/20). His previous plays include The Stories of Shakey P, which was co-commissioned by the RSC for the Edinburgh Festival and toured extensively; and Macblair, which played the Brighton and Edinburgh Fringes 2017 to critical success, and was one of The Scotsman’s Top 6 hot picks for political shows 2017.

 

Alexandra Spencer-Jones | Director

Spencer-Jones directed Action to the Word’s A Clockwork Orange and Dracula, and was the recipient of the Musical Theatre Matters UK award for Best Emerging Artist.

 

The Actors
Boris himself is played by Luke Theobald, a member of the sketch troupe The Jest (as heard on BBC Radio 4’s Sketchorama). As a writer and performer with The Jest, Theobald won the Leicester Square Theatre Sketch O ! award, and was a New Act of the Year nalist. The cast also features Henry Bauckham (Action to the Word’s Dracula) as David Cameron, Lydia Cashman (Action to the Word’s Women Beware Women) as Theresa May, and Charlie Dupré as Jacob Rees-Mogg.