Theatre and Dance Previews

Fresh from its successful summer premiere at Hampstead Theatre, the new comedy In The Club is bringing its "running gags, slapstick and witty one-liners (Financial Times) to the Wycombe Swan this month.

The play unites much loved actor James Fleet (Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Vicar of Dibley) Tony Award-winning director David Grindley (Journey's End, What the Butler Saw) writer Richard Bean (Harvest) and a talented cast of actors including Huw Higginson (George Garfield in The Bill) and Karen Drury (Susannah Farnham in Brookside).

The story centres around hapless MEP Philip Wardrobe (James Fleet) who has a busy day ahead of him, balancing his less-than-irreproachable political career with his attempts to start a family.

In the Club

But as he prepares for his girlfriend to fly in from Kettering for an afternoon of ‘frolics’, his plan to be voted President of the European Parliament is foiled at every turn by his unpredictable colleagues: uncouth Yorkshiremen, irate Turks and amorous Frenchwomen - to say nothing of the mysterious man in the linen cupboard.

But as Philip’s personal and political lives collide in a Strasbourg hotel suite, this production is much more than door-slamming shenanigans, as Huw Higginson explained.

In the Club is described by the writer as a "sex farce" about the European Parliament, which does sound quite plausible, but can you give us the basic premise?

The premise is that we have an English MEP whose partner of 15 years is flying over to try and make a baby. But in the meantime, there are various people who come in who are involved with the European Parliament, who really don't get on at all. He, the MEP, then has the possibility to become President of the Union. When his partner then turns up to make babies she finds that other people have been there before her and various items to do with various sexual practices are found and the situation unfolds to the detriment of his character. That's a small encapsulation, it's a lot more complicated than that!

You play Andre and as I understand it you spend a lot of time in a cupboard, so what's your role?!

Andre works for OLAF which is the fraud investigation team with the European Parliament. I think everybody's possibly aware that the expenses and the lunches
and the wine etc that are given out free to MEPs maybe a bit excessive and he is an investigator. He reveals himself to be this master of disguise and basically he's trying to nail the excessive expenses which are taken, and also a fake husband which one of the characters has, who she uses to gain grants from the EC. However, he is totally inept and he does spend an awful lot of time in a cupboard with his headphones on, listening for clues and recording stuff, with a view to prosecute anybody he finds who may be fiddling their expenses or faking husbands to claim extra money from the Parliament - with comic consequences I hope!

In the Club

It's described as a farce, a comedy, but there's obviously a lot of serious political issues to be made, how do the two work together?

I have to say that the first time I read this play I laughed out loud. It's the most I've laughed ever reading a play for the first time. But it does have some very serious issues. We all know what the European Parliament is but we don't really understand what they do and what it's about. Richard, the writer, has done stand-up before and has written some wonderful, wonderful one-liners. But at the same time there are the issues of Turkey coming into Europe and if they did, the fact that 1 in 4 member states of Europe would be Muslim, and there are also the issues that we have with terrorism and with human rights and corruption - not just to do with Turkey - so it combines those to really hilarious effect but it does make you think. It does give an insight, albeit in a comic way, to some of the current issues of the day.

So it's the classic way of by making people laugh you get them to think about something they might not have thought about before?

Absolutely. A lot of the jokes are based around Turkey's accession or the fraud that goes on and the fact that there are a lot of illegal immigrants working within the Parliament, it brings all of those out but in such a humorous way. I've found a lot of people who have loved the show who have laughed hysterically all the way through and then spent the evening talking about the politics. The comedy draws people in.

So it's much more than just running in and out of doors?

Oh yes, very much so! It's a very, very different beast, although the model is the same, and the technical attributes that you need to perform this kind of work are the same, the content is very different because it has a dual message - it makes you laugh and it makes you think. It's not 'vicar drop your knickers', it's very funny but it brings home a message in quite sharp way! 

You were last seen in our area in Meeting Joe Strummer, where there was just two actors and no props, while this is a pretty big cast and has lots of props. How are you finding the change?

Although I am re-visiting this play after doing it in Hampstead last summer, having been on the road with no props whatsoever, one of the things I've been thinking is that I've got to remember my lists of what goes where and when! I have actually got a lot of personal props in this but it's just a different discipline. There's a lot to be said for both ways of working, there's a great deal of freedom when you do a two-hander with no props apart from a bottle of tequila at the end. That was fantastic but this is all about technique and discipline to deliver the audience the goods. I'm just about getting used to having props again!

In the Club

Farce isn't just a laugh is it? It's a very disciplined way of performing?

Having done a fair bit of theatre, I feel personally that farce is probably the hardest to achieve well, if they're not done well they are just embarrassing and seem very dated. Doing farce you have to be really, really focused, specifically technically, but make it look as if you're being normal. It's not the easiest thing to achieve but if you're concentration levels are high enough it reaps such a reward. In a lot of ways, as an actor, the most rewarding thing you can do is a difficult job done well. I think we achieved that in Hampstead and I hope we'll achieve that in Wycombe as well!

A lot of people will recognise you for the ten years you spent on The Bill. You're doing theatre now so was that a shock to the system or is it where your heart is? 

I did ten years and 600 episodes! I trained for three years to be an actor and I would never give back my ten years on The Bill which were wonderful years. It was very rewarding and I met a lot of fantastic people. But my real love is the theatre because it's a new experience every night. You're saying the same lines and possibly doing the same moves but it's new, it's a different journey every day. So theatre was always my first love. I have to say I do enjoy doing television and film but theatre is the most rewarding.