Rik Mayall
Filmography -- Stage
Table:
Year

Title

Role

Notes

1978

The Comedy of Errors

Dromio of Syracuse

Performed at the Oxford Playhouse in Oxford

1985

The Government Inspector

Ivan Khlestakov

Performed at the National Theatre in London

1988

The Common Pursuit

Nick Finchling

Performed at the Phoenix Theatre in London

1991

Waiting for Godot

Vladimir

Performed at the Queen's Theatre in London

1993

Bottom Live

Richard "Richie" Richard

Recorded at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton

1995

Cell Mates

Blake

Performed at the Albery Theatre in the West End

1995

Bottom Live: The Big Number Two Tour

Richard "Richie" Richard

Recorded at the New Theatre in Oxford

1997

Bottom Live 3: Hooligan's Island

Richard "Richie" Richard

Recorded at the Hippodrome in Bristol

2000

A Family Affair

Henry

Performed at the Theatre Royal, Brighton

2001

Bottom Live 2001: An Arse Oddity

Richard "Richie" Richard

Recorded at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham

2003

Present Laughter

Gary Essendine

Performed at the Theatre Royal, Bath

2003

Bottom Live 2003: Weapons Grade Y-Fronts Tour

Richard "Richie" Richard

Recorded at the Cliffs Pavilion in Southend-on-Sea

2006-2007

The New Statesman

Alan B'Stard

Performed at Trafalgar Studios, London

Consulting the following table and the supplementary paragraphs listed below.

Provide an answer to this question: Who wrote the play in which Rik Mayall played Ivan Khlestakov in 1985 ? Provide just your answer in a JSON object {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Do not introduce information beyond the provided sources.

The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare 's early plays . It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies , with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity , in addition to puns and word play . The Comedy of Errors is , along with The Tempest , one of only two Shakespearean plays to observe the Aristotelian principle of unity of time - that is , that the events of a play should occur over 24 hours . It has been adapted for opera , stage , screen and musical theatre numerous times worldwide . In the centuries following its premiere , the play 's title has entered the popular English lexicon as an idiom for an event or series of events made ridiculous by the number of errors that were made throughout . Set in the Greek city of Ephesus , The Comedy of Errors tells the story of two sets of identical twins who were accidentally separated at birth . Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant , Dromio of Syracuse , arrive in Ephesus , which turns out to be the home of their twin brothers , Antipholus of Ephesus and his servant , Dromio of Ephesus . When the Syracusans encounter the friends and families of their twins , a series of wild mishaps based on mistaken identities lead to wrongful beatings , a near-seduction , the arrest of Antipholus of Ephesus , and false accusations of infidelity , theft , madness , and demonic possession .
Oxford Playhouse ( often just known as the Playhouse by locals ) is an independent theatre designed by Sir Edward Maufe . It is situated in Beaumont Street , Oxford , opposite the Ashmolean Museum .
Oxford ( /ˈɒksfəd/ OKS-fəd ) is a university city in Oxfordshire , England , with a population of 155,000 . It is 56 miles ( 90 km ) northwest of London , 64 miles ( 103 km ) from Birmingham and 24 miles ( 39 km ) from Reading by road . The city is home to the University of Oxford , the oldest in the English-speaking world , and has buildings in every style of English architecture from late Anglo-Saxon . Oxford 's industries include motor manufacturing , education , publishing , information technology and science .
The Government Inspector , also known as The Inspector General ( Russian : « Ревизор » , Revizor , literally : Inspector ) , is a satirical play by the Russian and Ukrainian dramatist and novelist Nikolai Gogol . Originally published in 1836 , the play was revised for an 1842 edition . Based upon an anecdote allegedly recounted to Gogol by Pushkin , the play is a comedy of errors , satirizing human greed , stupidity , and the extensive political corruption of Imperial Russia . According to D. S. Mirsky , the play is not only supreme in character and dialogue - it is one of the few Russian plays constructed with unerring art from beginning to end . The great originality of its plan consisted in the absence of all love interest and of sympathetic characters . The latter feature was deeply resented by Gogol 's enemies , and as a satire the play gained immensely from it . There is not a wrong word or intonation from beginning to end , and the comic tension is of a quality that even Gogol did not always have at his beck and call . The dream-like scenes of the play , often mirroring each other , whirl in the endless vertigo of self-deception around the main character , Khlestakov , who personifies irresponsibility , light-mindedness , absence of measure . He is full of meaningless movement and meaningless fermentation incarnate , on a foundation of placidly ambitious inferiority ( D.S . Mirsky ) . The publication of the play led to a great outcry in the reactionary press . It took the personal intervention of Tsar Nicholas I to have the play staged , with Mikhail Shchepkin taking the role of the Mayor .
The Royal National Theatre in London , commonly known as the National Theatre ( NT ) , is one of the United Kingdom 's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues , alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House . Internationally , it is known as the National Theatre of Great Britain . From its foundation in 1963 until 1976 , the company was based at The Old Vic theatre in Waterloo . The current building is located next to the Thames in the South Bank area of central London . In addition to performances at the National Theatre building , the National Theatre tours productions at theatres across the United Kingdom . Permission to add the Royal prefix to the name of the theatre was given in 1988 , but the full title is rarely used . The theatre presents a varied programme , including Shakespeare , other international classic drama , and new plays by contemporary playwrights . Each auditorium in the theatre can run up to three shows in repertoire , thus further widening the number of plays which can be put on during any one season . In June 2009 , the theatre began National Theatre Live ( NT Live ) , a programme of simulcasts of live productions to cinemas , first in the United Kingdom and then internationally . The programme began with a production of Phèdre , starring Helen Mirren , which was screened live in 70 cinemas across the UK . NT Live productions have since been broadcast to over 2,500 venues in 60 countries around the world . The NT had an annual turnover of approximately £105 million in 2015-16 , of which earned income made up 75% ( 58% from ticket sales , 5% from NT Live and Digital , and 12% from commercial revenue such as in the restaurants , bookshops , etc .
London is the capital and largest city of England and of the United Kingdom . Standing on the River Thames in the south-east of England , at the head of its 50-mile ( 80 km ) estuary leading to the North Sea , London has been a major settlement for two millennia . Londinium was founded by the Romans . The City of London , London 's ancient core − an area of just 1.12 square miles ( 2.9 km2 ) and colloquially known as the Square Mile − retains boundaries that closely follow its medieval limits . [ note 1 ] The City of Westminster is also an Inner London borough holding city status . Greater London is governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly . [ note 2 ] London is considered to be one of the world 's most important global cities and has been termed the world 's most powerful , most desirable , most influential , most visited , most expensive , innovative , sustainable , most investment friendly , and most popular for work city . London exerts a considerable impact upon the arts , commerce , education , entertainment , fashion , finance , healthcare , media , professional services , research and development , tourism and transportation . London ranks 26th out of 300 major cities for economic performance . It is one of the largest financial centres and has either the fifth or the sixth largest metropolitan area GDP . [ note 3 ] It is the most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the busiest city airport system as measured by passenger traffic . It is the leading investment destination , hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city .
The Common Pursuit is a play by Simon Gray which follows the lives of six characters who first meet as undergraduates at Cambridge University when they are involved in setting up a literary magazine called The Common Pursuit . The title is an allusion to F. R. Leavis 's 1952 collection of essays Scrutiny : The Common Pursuit .
The Phoenix Theatre is a West End theatre in the London Borough of Camden , located in Charing Cross Road ( on the corner of Flitcroft Street ) . The entrances are on Phoenix Street and Charing Cross Road . The Phoenix Theatre was built on the site of a former factory and then music hall Alcazar before .
Waiting for Godot ( /ˈɡɒdoʊ/ GOD-oh ) is a play by Samuel Beckett , in which two characters , Vladimir ( Didi ) and Estragon ( Gogo ) , wait for the arrival of someone named Godot who never arrives , and while waiting they engage in a variety of discussions and encounter three other characters . Waiting for Godot is Beckett 's translation of his own original French-language play , En attendant Godot , and is subtitled ( in English only ) a tragicomedy in two acts . The original French text was composed between 9 October 1948 and 29 January 1949 . The premiere , directed by Roger Blin , was on 5 January 1953 at the Théâtre de Babylone [ fr ] , Paris . The English-language version premiered in London in 1955 . In a poll conducted by the British Royal National Theatre in 1990 , it was voted the most significant English language play of the 20th century .
The Sondheim Theatre ( formerly the Queen 's Theatre ) is a West End theatre located in Shaftesbury Avenue on the corner of Wardour Street in the City of Westminster , London . It opened as the Queen 's on 8 October 1907 as a twin to the neighbouring Hicks Theatre ( now the Gielgud Theatre ) which had opened ten months earlier . Both theatres were designed by W. G. R. Sprague . In 2019 the theatre 's name was changed from the Queen 's to the Sondheim Theatre . The theatre reopened on 18 December , 2019 .
Bottom Live - The Stage Show is a live stage show based on the UK TV series Bottom . It ran in 1993 and was recorded for VHS ( and later DVD ) release at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton . It was written by its stars , Rik Mayall as Richie Richard and Adrian Edmondson as Eddie Hitler .
Mayflower Theatre ( formerly the Gaumont Theatre and originally The Empire Theatre ) is a Grade II listed theatre in the city centre of Southampton , England , with a capacity of 2,300 . It features West End theatre shows when they tour the United Kingdom . In addition to this , one-off comedy shows and music events often take place at the theatre too .
Southampton ( /saʊθˈ ( h ) æmptən/ ( listen ) ) is a city in Hampshire , South East England , 70 miles ( 110 km ) south-west of London and 15 miles ( 24 km ) north-west of Portsmouth . A major port , and close to the New Forest , it lies at the northernmost point of Southampton Water , at the confluence of the River Test and Itchen , with the River Hamble joining to the south . The unitary authority had a population of 253,651 at the 2011 census . A resident of Southampton is called a Sotonian . Significant employers in the city include Southampton City Council , the University of Southampton , Solent University , Southampton Airport , Ordnance Survey , BBC South , the NHS , Associated British Ports ( ABP ) and Carnival UK . Southampton is noted for its association with the RMS Titanic , the Spitfire , as one of the departure points for D-Day , and more recently as the home port of some of the largest cruise ships in the world . Southampton also has a large shopping centre and retail park , Westquay .
Cell Mates is a play by Simon Gray . It opened at the Albery Theatre , London on 16 February 1995 , starring Stephen Fry and Rik Mayall , with Gray himself directing . Despite having performed successfully for several weeks during the pre-London warm-up dates in Guildford and Watford then at the Richmond Theatre , Fry left the West End production after three days . His understudy , Mark Anderson stepped in , until Fry was replaced by Simon Ward . Nevertheless , the production closed on 25 March 1995 . Later in 1995 , Gray released an autobiographical account of the production , called Fat Chance . It was published by Faber and Faber . The play was revived at the Hampstead Theatre in December 2017 , in a new production directed by Edward Hall and starring Geoffrey Streatfeild as George Blake .
The Noël Coward Theatre , formerly known as the Albery Theatre , is a West End theatre on St. Martin 's Lane in the City of Westminster , London . It opened on 12 March 1903 as the New Theatre and was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind Wyndham 's Theatre which was completed in 1899 . The building was designed by architect W. G. R. Sprague with an exterior in the classical style and an interior in the Rococo style . In 1973 it was renamed the Albery Theatre in tribute to Sir Bronson Albery who had presided as its manager for many years . Since September 2005 , the theatre has been owned by Delfont-Mackintosh Ltd . It underwent major refurbishment in 2006 , and was renamed the Noël Coward Theatre when it re-opened for the London premiere of Avenue Q on 1 June 2006 . Noël Coward , one of Britain 's greatest playwrights and actors , appeared in his own play , I 'll Leave It To You , at the then New Theatre in 1920 , the first West End production of one of his plays . The theatre seats 872 patrons on four levels . The building is now a Grade II Listed structure .
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London . Along with New York City 's Broadway theatre , West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world . Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London . Society of London Theatre ( SOLT ) has announced that 2018 was a record year for the capital 's theatre industry with attendances topping 15.5m for the first time since the organization began collecting audience data in 1986 . Box office revenues exceeded £765m . Famous screen actors , British and international alike , frequently appear on the London stage .
Bottom Live : The Big Number Two is a 1995 live stage show based on the UK TV series Bottom that was filmed at the Apollo Theatre Oxford .
New Theatre Oxford ( formerly the Apollo Theatre Oxford and The Apollo , from 1977-2003 ) is the main commercial theatre in Oxford , England . It has a capacity of 1,785 people ; is on George Street , in the centre of the city ; and puts on a wide variety of shows , including musical theatre , stand-up comedy , and concerts .
Bottom Live 3 : Hooligan 's Island is a live stage show that was recorded at the Bristol Hippodrome , Bristol , in 1997 , written by and starring Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson . This is the third instalment of five live shows based on the television show Bottom .
The Bristol Hippodrome ( grid reference ST590729 ) is a theatre located in The Centre , Bristol , England , United Kingdom with seating on three levels giving a capacity of 1,951 . It frequently features shows from London 's West End when they tour the UK , as well as regular visits by Welsh National Opera and an annual pantomime .
A Family Affair is a musical with a book by James Goldman and William Goldman , lyrics by James Goldman and John Kander , and music by Kander . This was Kander 's first show , and his only one written without Fred Ebb in Ebb 's lifetime .
The Theatre Royal , Brighton is a theatre in Brighton , England presenting a range of West End and touring musicals and plays , along with performances of opera and ballet .
Bottom Live 2001 : An Arse Oddity was the fourth live show based on the British sitcom Bottom . It was recorded at Nottingham Royal Concert Hall .
Nottingham Royal Concert Hall is a concert hall in the English city of Nottingham . It is owned by Nottingham City Council and is part of a complex that also includes the city 's Theatre Royal . The Royal Concert Hall 's striking modern architecture has proved to be a city landmark at the heart of Nottingham City Centre , opposite the more recently built The Cornerhouse complex . [ citation needed ] The concert hall is served by the adjacent Royal Centre tram stop on the Nottingham Express Transit .
Nottingham ( /ˈnɒtɪŋəm/ ( listen ) NOT-ing-əm ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire , England . Part of the East Midlands region , it is 128 miles ( 206 km ) north of London and 45 miles ( 72 km ) northeast of Birmingham . To the west lies Derby , separated by the M1 motorway . Nottingham has links to the legend of Robin Hood and to the lace-making , bicycle ( notably Raleigh bikes ) , and tobacco industries . It was granted its city charter in 1897 as part of Queen Victoria 's Diamond Jubilee celebrations . Nottingham is a tourist destination ; in 2018 , the city received the second highest amount of overnight visitors in the Midlands and the highest amount in the East Midlands . In 2017 , Nottingham had an estimated population of 329,200 . The population of the city proper , compared to its regional counterparts , has been attributed to its historical and tightly-drawn city boundaries . The wider conurbation , which includes many of the city 's suburbs , has a population of 768,638 . It is the largest urban area in the East Midlands and the second-largest in the Midlands . Its Functional Urban Area , also the largest in the East Midlands , has a population of 919,484 . The population of the Nottingham/Derby metropolitan area is estimated to be 1,610,000 .
Present Laughter is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 but not produced until 1942 because the Second World War began while it was in rehearsal , and the British theatres closed . The title is drawn from a song in Shakespeare 's Twelfth Night that urges carpe diem ( present mirth hath present laughter ) . The play has been frequently revived in Britain , the US and beyond . The plot depicts a few days in the life of the successful and self-obsessed light comedy actor Garry Essendine as he prepares to travel for a touring commitment in Africa . Amid a series of events bordering on farce , Garry has to deal with women who want to seduce him , placate both his long-suffering secretary and his wife , cope with a crazed young playwright , and overcome his impending mid-life crisis ( since he has recently turned forty ) . The character is a caricature of the author 's real-life persona , as Coward acknowledged . Coward starred as Garry during the original run , which began with a long provincial tour to accommodate wartime audiences . He reprised the role in the first British revival and later in the US and Paris . Subsequent productions have featured actors such as Albert Finney , Peter O'Toole , Donald Sinden , Ian McKellen and Simon Callow , and in the US Clifton Webb , Douglas Fairbanks Jr. , George C. Scott , Frank Langella and Kevin Kline .
The Theatre Royal in Bath , England , was built in 1805 . A Grade II* listed building , it has been described by the Theatres Trust as One of the most important surviving examples of Georgian theatre architecture . It has a capacity for an audience of around 900 . The Theatre Royal was built to replace the Old Orchard Street Theatre , funded by a Tontine and elaborately decorated . The architect was George Dance the Younger , with John Palmer carrying out much of the work . It opened with a performance of Shakespeare 's Richard III and hosted performances by many leading actors of the time including Dorothea Jordan , William Macready and Edmund Kean . A major fire in 1862 destroyed the interior of the building and was quickly followed by a rebuilding programme by Charles J. Phipps , which included the construction of the current entrance . Further redecoration was undertaken in 1892 ; more extensive building work , including a new staircase and the installation of electric lighting , followed in 1902 . Despite performances by casts including Sarah Bernhardt , the ballerina Anna Pavlova and Mrs. Patrick Campbell , the theatre was rarely very profitable . During World War II Donald Wolfit , Irene Vanbrugh , John Gielgud and Sybil Thorndike appeared , with shows including Noël Coward 's Private Lives and Blyth Spirit , a performance by Ballet Rambert and light entertainment such as Charley 's Aunt , but audiences declined . In 1979 the theatre was bought by a trust and , following public donations , it underwent refurbishment , with the rebuilding of the stage and the installation of a new taller fly tower for scenery and lighting . In 1997 a new 150 seat theatre , known as the Ustinov Studio , was opened .
Bottom Live 2003 : Weapons Grade Y-Fronts Tour is the fifth and final live stage show based on the UK TV series Bottom . It ran in 2003 ( ten years after the first stage show ) and was recorded for VHS and DVD release at the Cliffs Pavilion Theatre in Southend-on-Sea . It was written by and starred Rik Mayall as Richie and Adrian Edmondson as Eddie .
Cliffs Pavilion is a theatre at Station Road in Westcliff-on-Sea , Essex , England , a suburb of Southend-on-Sea . It seats 1,630 and offers an assortment of variety acts . Work began on the original Cliffs Pavilion during the 1930s . It was intended to be a 500-seat theatre incorporating the art deco style of the times . With the outbreak of World War II , however , the building work halted . The site remained boarded-up until 1959 , when the original building was leveled . It was then moved to one side and slightly closer to the edge of the cliff to form the basis of the present Cliffs Pavilion , which opened in 1964 . On 19 July 1991 , Paul McCartney performed one of his six secret shows at the Pavilion during his 1991 Unplugged Summer Tour . [ citation needed ] From July 1991 to December 1992 , the building was closed to be redeveloped and enlarged , with the funding of Southend Borough Council and designed by Tim Foster Architects . The stairs were rebuilt , a new Foyer Bar added and a balcony added to the auditorium . Since re-opening , annual audience figures increased from about 200,000 to about 340,000 .
Southend-on-Sea ( /saʊθˌɛnd-/ ( listen ) ) , commonly referred to simply as Southend , is a town and wider unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex , England . It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary , 40 miles ( 64 km ) east of central London . It is bordered to the north by Rochford and to the west by Castle Point . It is home to the longest leisure pier in the world , Southend Pier . London Southend Airport is located 1.5 NM ( 2.8 km ; 1.7 mi ) north of the town centre . Southend-on-Sea originally consisted of a few poor fishermen 's huts and farms at the southern end of the village of Prittlewell . In the 1790s , the first buildings around what was to become the High Street of Southend were completed . In the 19th century , Southend 's status of a seaside resort grew after a visit from Princess Caroline of Brunswick , and Southend Pier was constructed . From the 1960s onwards , the town declined as a holiday destination , Southend redeveloped itself as the home of the Access credit card , due to it having one of the UK 's first electronic telephone exchanges . After the 1960s , much of the town centre was developed for commerce and retail , and many original structures were lost to redevelopment . An annual seafront airshow , started in 1986 when it featured a flypast by Concorde , used to take place each May until 2012 .
Trafalgar Studios , formerly the Whitehall Theatre until 2004 , is a West End theatre in Whitehall , near Trafalgar Square , in the City of Westminster , London . Built in 1930 with interiors in the Art Deco style , the theatre regularly staged comedies and revues . It was converted into a television and radio studio in the 1990s , before later returning to theatrical use .