TV-to-stage adaptation Yes, Prime Minister enthralls at both ends of the globe
Posted on 17 October 2012
Hit play Yes, Prime Minister, currently back in the West End at the Trafalgar Studios, has confirmed a New Zealand run for the show. Having already made waves in Australia last year with a six-city tour, the show will now make its New Zealand debut next summer. It will play a limited season in Auckland and Wellington in July and August 2013, opening at the Civic in Auckland on 6 July followed by the St James Theatre in Wellington on 7 August. A Christchurch run is also to be announced.
The show enjoyed sold-out seasons in Sydney and Melbourne last year as part of its six-city tour and won great critical and public acclaim. The stageshow was written by Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay, the creators of the original TV series. In the UK the stageshow began its life at the Chichester Festival Theatre in spring 2010, before transferring into the West End at the Gielgud Theatre that September where it ran until January 2011. After touring the UK, the show returned to London at the Apollo Theatre for 10 weeks from July 2011, before yet another well-received UK tour.
The show is currently back in the West End for the third time at the Trafalgar Studios, where it has been in residence since June this year and is currently booking through to 12 January 2013. This current incarnation features a revised script, and will be the version that hits New Zealand next year. The theatre adaptation is based on Lynn and Jay's hit show Yes Minister, and its follow-on Yes, Prime Minister, which in total ran for five series between 1980 and 1988. A tv revival of the show is currently underway, to screen on UK TV station Gold (previously UK Gold) next year as part of their move into original programming. David Haig and Henry Goodman will reprise their roles of Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey from the stage play. Gold is part of the UKTV network and their sister channel Dave recently launched a succesful revival of cult comedy show Red Dwarf.
The original TV series of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister won several BAFTAs and was also the favourite TV programme of then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Book tickets for Yes, Prime Minister at the Trafalgar Studios here
