The Magistrate

by Arthur Wing Pinero

17 January 2013

Academy Award nominee and Tony Award-winner John Lithgow (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Shrek, 3rd Rock from the Sun) takes the title role in this uproarious Victorian farce, with Olivier Award-winner Nancy Carroll (After the Dance) as his wife Agatha. The director is Olivier Award-winner Timothy Sheader (Crazy for You and Into the Woods, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, London).

Well, when I heard the new dad was a police magistrate, I was scared. Said I to myself, "If I don't mind my Ps and Qs, the Guv'nor – from force of habit – will fine me all my pocket-money."

With his louche air and a developed taste for smoking, gambling, alcohol and woman, it's hard to believe Cis Farringdon is only fourteen. And that's because he isn't. Agatha, his mother, dropped five years from her true age – and his – when she married amiable magistrate Posket. When her deception looks set to be revealed, it sparks a series of hilarious indignities and outrageous mishaps.

In a similar vein to the National Theatre’s smash-hit comedies, She Stoops to Conquer, London Assurance and One Man, Two Guvnors, The Magistrate is sure to have audiences around the world doubled up with laughter.

Cast includes:

Mr. Bullamy - Nicholas Blane

Captain Horace Vale - Nicholas Burns

Agatha - Nancy Carroll

Singing Dandy - Tamsin Carroll

Wyke - Alexander Cobb

Charlotte - Christina Cole

Colonel Lukyn - Jonathan Coy

Singing Dandy - Richard Freeman

Achille Blond - Don Gallagher

Singing Dandy - Amy Griffiths

Constable Harris - Joshua Lacey

Posket - John Lithgow

Isidore - Christopher Logan

Singing Dandy - Nicholas Lumley

Cis Farringdon - Joshua McGuire

Sergeant Lugg - Sean McKenzie

Singing Dandy - Joshua Manning

Beatie Tomlinson - Sarah Ovens

Inspector Messiter - Peter Polycarpou

Popham - Beverly Rudd

Mr. Wormington - Roger Sloman

Singing Dandy - Jez Unwin

Creative includes:

Director - Timothy Sheader

Designer - Katrina Lindsay

Lighting Designer - James Farncombe

Lyrics - Richard Stilgoe

Music - Richard Sisson

Movement Director - Liam Steel

Sound Designer - Paul Arditti

Vocal Arranger - David Shrubsole

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Distributor: London National Theatre
Director: Timothy Sheader

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