Producer Sonia Friedman to open new comedy at London’s Noel Coward Theatre

Renowned performers Ben Asheden and Alex Owen will star in this new production, which marks the return of the SFP company since the lockdown. Abiding by all the necessary health safety rules to prevent COVID, the show will offer the audience the chance to both laugh and spare a few tears, while taking them through an exploration of bittersweet nostalgia and the power friendship.

No better way to cope with a crisis than to laugh! As the West End slowly begins to open up its doors to its faithful supporters, the companies are finding new ways to keep the industry alive during the hardest of times. Acclaimed producer Sonia Friedman (The Book of Mormon, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child) joins the team of showbiz fighters to bring the brand new comedy The Comeback, starring Ben Asheden and Alex Owen, which will start its run by Christmas time.

Directed by Emily Burns, the show is an exploration of bittersweet nostalgia as well as a celebration of true friendship, which promises audiences to be doubled over laughing and shedding some tears. “After 8 years of lugging props between tiny venues, and 8 months of watching those props gather dust, we feel ridiculously excited and fortunate to be bringing a play to the West End”, say Asheden and Owen. “For it to have been developed with and presented by a producer of Sonia Friedman’s immense standing makes us very proud, and provides ample material for anxiety dreams in which hidden cameras are revealed and words like “prank” shouted. We hope to provide 90 minutes of silliness, escapism, and extremely well dusted props.”

This production marks the return of SFP since the lockdown, and as the other upcoming shows in London, this will too abide by all the health safety rules regarding COVID. “It’s so heartening to see artists and audiences in theatres once again this Christmas. As theatre makers – performers and producers alike – we have a duty to do our bit to lift the nation’s spirits and nourish its soul”, claims Friedman. “Make no mistake, though: theatre is not back in business. Having shuttered 18 productions worldwide seven months ago, all of which remain suspended, I cannot fully – let alone profitably – re-open my shows.  Producing shows this Christmas is a tightrope act, but The Comeback will go ahead – following approved Performing Arts working guidelines  – and so long as government restrictions allow”.

The Comeback will play from December 8th to January 3rd. Tickets are already available on the following link.

By Guillermo Názara

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

Blog at WordPress.com.

%d bloggers like this: