My final post-show Q&A of the year, to the stage premiere of Chasing Bono, was an absolute Irish corker! After a revealing discussion about the fine line between success and failure and the perils of fame, it ended with an impromptu song performance. Could someone in stage management get us a guitar at Soho Theatre? They could and did!
This new stage comedy, written by Richard Clement and Ian La Frenais, is based on the book I Was Bono’s Doppelganger, Telegraph Entertainment music critic Neil McCormick‘s memoir about his own failed rock star ambition set against the stratospheric success of his childhood friend who went on to become a global phenomenon with U2.
For the Chasing Bono Q&A, I was joined by McCormick, producer Sally Wood for Sally Humphreys Productions Ltd and the cast including Neil’s onstage doppelganger Niall McNamee, Shane O’Regan (whose performance of Bono is uncanny), Dónal Finn, Denis Conway, Ciarán Dowd and Niamh Bracken.
In the audience were lots of Irish, fans of U2 and several members of Neil’s family (who watched versions of themselves, as well as Neil, onstage). When the wide-ranging discussion – which also covered the incredible comedy gold of Clement and La Frenais, Irish gangster Martin Cahill (a.k.a. The General), Madonna and, of course, U2 – touched on religion and its impact on the Ireland of Neil and Bono’s youth, Neil was asked why, as an atheist, he’d written a song called “I Found God”.
A snippet from the start the song is performed by Bono in the play; in answering, Neil recited some of its later lyrics… which prompted me to invite him to perform the full song as a finale to the Q&A. Wow! I cannot get this song out of my mind. Can we get it released as a single? And racing up the charts?
Watch and listen below and see what you think.
“Finding God”
Q&A video
Terri Paddock founded WhatsOnStage.com and the WhatsOnStage Awards, running the company and its events from 1996 to 2013. Terri is also the author of two novels, Come Clean and Beware the Dwarfs, and has previously written for the Evening Standard, Independent, The Times and other national publications. She is renowned for her 'legendary' post-show Q&As and also produces the annual Critics' Circle Theatre Awards and acts as a digital, content strategy and event consultant for theatre, producers and other clients. She tweets about theatre at @TerriPaddock.
