As part of her ongoing post-show Q&A series, on Friday 5 April 2019, Mates co-founder Terri Paddock returns to London’s Omnibus Theatre for the timely return of the one-man play about the late political titan and “most dangerous man in Britain” Tony Benn. Got any questions?
“It’s fair to say that seeing Tony’s Last Tape in 2015 ignited my own political activism, as well as sparking a bit of an obsession with all things Tony Benn. I can’t wait to talk to the team behind it for this incredibly timely London return season.”
“There is no final victory, there is no final defeat.
Just the same battles which have to be fought over and over and over again.”
An old man sits in a room faced with a collection of recording devices that he has collected over his long and eventful life. He opens a drawer, takes out a pipe, unscrews his flask and pours himself the first cup of tea of the day. For more than fifty years, he has been recording everything that has happened to and around him, but today he has decided to make his last tape.
Award-winning playwright Andy Barrett and director Giles Croft revive this timely one-man play based on the diaries of one of Britain’s most respected, divisive and celebrated politicians, former Labour Party Cabinet minister and president of the Stop the War Coalition Tony Benn (1925-2014).
After a sold-out run at Nottingham Playhouse, Philip Bretherton reprises his much-celebrated role as Tony Benn, revealing the struggle of a man who – having found himself no longer ‘the most dangerous man in Britain’ but something of a national treasure – realises that it is time to gracefully withdraw from the fight. If only it was that easy.
Author Andy Barrett said:
“The timing feels right to bring Tony Benn’s story back to life. With a national debate about the kind of society that might be shaped, ready to be unleashed once the Brexit dust settles, and the Labour party using the word socialism with increasing confidence, it’s clear that Benn’s time as a political thinker has come again. He’s as relevant now as he’s ever been.”
The run at Omnibus will also be accompanied by an exhibition, Power: Missiles, Miners & Monarchy, unique voice portraits (Sonograms) of Tony Benn by socio-political artist and activist Tracey Moberly.
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.
