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Stephen Fry |
Fry up for role in Scouts play
Actor lends voice to help fringe theatre
THE creators of a new satirical comedy about Afghanistan have carried off a theatrical coup.
They have added a celebrity name to their cast list – none other than actor, comedian and erstwhile twitterer Stephen Fry.
Fry will play the voice of the chief scout in Scouts in Bondage, which gets its world premier at the King’s Head in Upper Street on November 12.
The play, set in the 1930s, was by written by award-winning creator of Taggart, Glenn Chandler, and concerns the adventures of a Scout troop who crash-land in Afghanistan on their way to an international jamboree.
They find themselves in the midst of a Great Game being played out between Pashtun tribesmen, Russian agents and British imperialists.
Mr Chandler said the play was inspired by comics from the 1930s.
He said: “The Scouts were a huge organisation in the 1930s and in the ripping yarns of the period they were portrayed as goody-goody boys.
“Stephen Fry generously agreed to play the voice of the chief scout as a favour to one of the actors. He doesn’t appear in the show but gives a lovely introduction.
“Fringe theatres don’t have much money, so to get an actor of Stephen Fry’s stature is an exciting thing.”
This is not the first time Mr Fry has been associated with the King’s Head; in 1993, Latin!, a play he wrote, was performed at the venue.
Although Mr Chandler insists his play is not meant to be political, he admits it makes subtle points about Afghanistan today.
He said: “By the end of the play, the Scouts have sorted out all the problems in Afghanistan, and there is even a line where one of the characters says: ‘We’ve got to get this sorted now otherwise we’re going to have problems in another 100 years.’”
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