| Ying Tong – A Walk With The Goons |
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Re-live the hilarity of The Goon Show when four of Australia’s foremost actor-comedians team up to present Ying Tong – A Walk With The Goons, part of Adelaide Festival Centre’s CentreStage program, from 5 – 18 November at Her Majesty’s Theatre.
Written by Roy Smiles, this brilliant new work of joy, sadness and ingenuity is sure to delight both Goons fans and newcomers to the comedic genius of Spike Milligan, whose legacy can be seen in generations of British comedy from Monty Python to Little Britain.
Ying Tong is a tribute to an exceptionally talented but troubled man who created one of the best-loved comedy series of our time. Milligan, much-loved in Australia, has been dubbed “The Godfather of Modern Comedy” and voted the funniest person of the millennium in a BBC poll.
Ying Tong shows Milligan at the height of his success, under pressure to deliver a new Goon Show script. He suffers a nervous breakdown and has to be hospitalised. The audience is transported into his crazy world and witnesses his struggle to regain mental equilibrium. There are flashbacks to Milligan’s youth, early career and experiences in World War II. His fantasies are peopled by Adolf Hitler, leprechauns, dispassionate hospital staff and famous Goon Show characters such as Eccles, Bluebottle and Neddie – all written in the trademark eccentric and unconventional Milligan style.
Writer Roy Smiles describes his close affinity with the plays’ subject matter: “The Goons were the sound of my childhood. All my uncles and aunties used to do Bluebottle and Eccles impressions. My older brother has all the records and scripts. Of course, a lot of the Beatles humour was based on them. If you watch A Hard Day’s Night Lennon is doing Goonish voices all the time. So you couldn’t avoid their influence growing up in 60s Britain. Certainly Monty Python wouldn’t have existed without them.”
A group of Australia’s foremost actor-comedians play The Goons: Jonathan Biggins, John Hannan, David James and Geoff Kelso.
“Goons lovers will find a sensitively wrought and deftly played exploration of a much-missed comic team and the extraordinary gifts of an exceptional man’s wounded mind”. Sydney Morning Herald
“Smiles perfectly captures the inspired comic lunacy…this is a marvellous production of a hugely entertaining play”. The Sunday Telegraph
Adelaide Festival Centre’s CentreStage program presents
Sydney Theatre Company’s
Ying Tong – A Walk With The Goons
Starring: Jonathan Biggins (Peter Sellars), John Hannan (Wallace Greenslade), David James (Harry Secombe) & Geoff Kelso (Spike Milligan)
Director: Richard Cottrell
Designer: Michael Scott Mitchell
Lighting Designer: Damien Cooper
Composer: Paul Charlier
Venue: Her Majesty’s Theatre
When: 5 – 8, 12 – 15, 19 – 22 November, 8pm
Matinees: 8, 15, 22 November, 2pm; 11 & 18 November, 11am
Cost: Premium $65, Adults $60, Concession $50, Students $25, Season Pass (4 + AFC Presents Shows): $50, Adults $45 Concession Groups (6+) $50
Bookings: BASS on 131 246 or online at www.bass.net.au
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