“I’m not acting crazy. I’m the genuine article.”
It’s the booming fifties, and Britain is in the clutches of Goon mania as men, women and children across the country scramble to get their ear to a wireless for another instalment of The Goon Show. While Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers get down to the serious business of becoming overnight celebrities, fellow Goon and chief writer Spike finds himself pushing the boundaries of comedy, and testing the patience of the BBC.
Will Spike’s dogged obsession with finding the funny elevate The Goons to soaring new heights, or will the whole thing come crashing down with the stroke of a potato peeler?
SPIKE is an absurdly funny new play by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman (The Wipers Times, Trial By Laughter, A Bunch of Amateurs) that delves into the inner workings of one of our most unique and brilliantly irreverent comedy minds.
The cast includes Olivier Award-winning actor John Dagleish (Sunny Afternoon) as 'Spike Milligan' with Stephen Fry as the voice of the 'BBC Announcer'.
Extracts from The Goons used with the kind permission of Spike Milligan Productions.
Praise for SPIKE:
'A fast-paced, capering production'
The Guardian
'A fascinating Insight into an era of British Comedy'
West End Best Friend
'A feast of nostalgic fun that will delight audiences of all ages'
spyinthestalls
Performance Information
Running time: approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes including a 20 minute interval.
Age guidance: Recommended 10+
Guidance on Content: Contains strong language, references to suicide, Loud bangs, strobe lighting, and the use of prop cigarettes and guns on stage.
Dine with us
Set Menu for SPIKE - Two Courses for £20.50
Visit our Food & Drink page for more information.
Socially Distanced Performances
We understand that some audience members may feel more comfortable attending a performance with more space between themselves and other audience members, so we are pleased to offer socially distanced performances for SPIKE. Audience members will be required to wear a face covering (unless exempt) when attending a socially distanced performance.
Dates and times for these performances can be found here.
Accessible Performances
Audio Described performance
Saturday 5 March at 2.30pm (Touch Tour starts at 1pm).
Described by Lixi Chivas
To book tickets and reserve a headset for the Audio Described performance, please call the Box Office on 01635 46044.
For further information about accessible performances please visit our Access page.
Listen to the audio flyer:
Writers Ian Hislop and Nick Newman
Director Paul Hart
Designer (Set & Costume) Katie Lias
Composer Tayo Akinbode
Lighting Designer Rory Beaton
Sound Designer Tom Marshall
Associate Director Robert Kirby
Movement Director Anjali Mehra
Foley Sound Consultant Ruth Sullivan
Deputy Stage Manager Alice Barber
Assistant Stage Managers Natalie Toney, Natalia Kheldouni
Audio Description Lixi Chivas
Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Janet
Theatre credits include: Dick Whittington (Lyric Hammersmith), The Half, The Congress of Oddities (Pleasance), John Finnemore’s Flying Visit (Tour/Yellow Car Productions), Angus, Thongs and More Snogging (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Psister Psycho (Underbelly, Edinburgh Festival).
Television and Film credits include: Motherland, The Hustle, Holby City, Bucket, The Agency, Catastrophe, Evermoor, The IT Crowd, In and Out of the Kitchen, Fresh Meat, Miranda, Bleak Old Shop of Stuff, We Are Mongrels, Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show, Psychoville.
Radio credits include: The Archers, Sick, Woman’s Hour, The Penny Dreadfuls, John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme, The Missing Hancocks, The Pin, Bakers End, The Brig Society, The Secret World, Beauty of Britain, Newsjack, The Now Show, Another Case of Milton Jones, In and Out of the Kitchen, Sarah Millican’s Support Group, Brian Gulliver’s Travels.
Podcasts include: The Guilty Feminist, Do the Right Thing, Inside the Comedian, Hoovering, Smershpod.
John Dagleish
Spike Milligan
Theatre credits include: Sylvia, A Christmas Carol (The Old Vic); Common (The National Theatre); A Midsummer Night's Dream (The Young Vic); The Winter's Tale/Harlequinade (The Garrick); Sunny Afternoon (Hampstead Theatre/Harold Pinter Theatre, Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical); Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat; The Mother (Producer Royal Court Theatre)
Film credits include: The Gentleman (Entertainment Film Distributors Mirimax); On The Beaches ; Judy (BBC Films); Knock At The Door; All Is True; Farming (Groundswell Productions); Christopher Robin (Disney); Mary Poppins Returns (Walt Disney Pictures); Justice League (Warner Brothers); The Monuments Men (Smokehouse Pictures); Age Of Heroes (Giant Films); Frankie Teardrop; The Priest
Television credits include: The Third Day (HBO); The Bisexual (Sister Pictures); The Moorside (BBC One); The Last Dragonslayer (Sky One); Silent Witness (BBC); Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (CUBA Productions); Siblings (Bwark for BBC 3); Truckers (Company Television Limited for BBC 1) ; Beaver Falls II (Company Pictures); Henry V (Shakespeare Productions for BBC); Starlings (Baby Cow); Any Human Heart (Carnival Film and Television Ltd); Lark Rise To Candleford- Series I-IV (BBC); The Fantasist - Pilot (Pure Grass Films Ltd); Beaver Falls (Company Pictures); The Bill (Talkback Thames).
George Kemp
Peter Sellers
Television credits include: Call My Agent (Amazon), Bridgerton (Netflix), The Trial of Christine Keeler (BBC), World War One Remembered (BBC)
Theatre credits include: Jack Absolute Flies Again (National Theatre), The Witchfinder’s Sister (Queen’s Theatre), The Game of Love and Chance (Arcola Theatre), One Man, Two Guvnors (Derby Theatre and Queen’s Theatre), The Wipers Times (Arts Theatre, West End and UK Tour), Rope (Queen’s Theatre), Emma (UK Tour), Posh (Greenwood Theatre, LAMDA), The Ritual Slaughter of Gorge Mastromas (Lindbury Studio, LAMDA), The Winter’s Tale (Pleasance Theatre, LAMDA), Of Mice and Men (Lindbury Studio, LAMDA), Giraffe – Raisin’ The Roof (Edinburgh Fringe), Twelfth Night (LAMDA), Giraffe – Let’s Talk About Sketch Baby (Edinburgh Fringe), Dead Reckoning (National Tour), Flight (NYT), Yeoman of the Guard (Carl Rosa Opera), Shuffle (NYT)
Film credits include: Prince Charming (Outloud Productions), Sammy (Pretzel Films).
Jeremy Lloyd
Harry Secombe
Theatre credits include: Wind in the Willows (Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton); Percy the Park Keeper’s Autumn Treasure Hunt (Histrionic Productions); Maggie and Ted (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford); Bluff (Radio Musical at www.bluffmusical.com); Trial by Laughter (Watermill Theatre and UK Tour); The Comedy About a Bank Robbery (Criterion Theatre, West End *Broadway World and West End Frame Award nominee for Best West End debut*); Giant Leap (Edinburgh Fringe, Comedians Theatre Company); Unearthed (UK Tour, Folio Theatre); Princess Ida (Finborough Theatre); How Many Miles to Babylon? (Lyric Theatre Belfast); Springs Eternal, The Breadwinner, The Man Who Pays the Piper (Orange Tree Theatre); The Busy Body (Southwark Playhouse)
Film credits include: Benjamin Britten: Peace and Conflict (Capriol Films); The Hatching (Lionsgate)
James Mack
Denis Main-Wilson / Peter Eton
Watermill credits include: The Hound of the Baskervilles (2021, 2020), The Rivals (2018), Macbeth (2015) and Journey’s End (2014).
Theatre credits include: One Man Two Guvnors (Torch Theatre); Ragtime (Charing Cross Theatre); Rain(Matchstick Theatre); This Heaven (Finborough); Hay Fever (Duke of Yorks, West End); A Christmas Carol (Old Red Lion); Confusions (Theatre Royal Haymarket Youth Company); The Insect Play (Theatre Haymarket Youth Company).
Ellie Morris
June
Theatre credits include: The Play That Goes Wrong (Duchess Theatre), Mischief Movie Night (Arts Theatre & UK tour), Rotterdam (Arts Theatre, Theatre E59, New York & UK Tour), The Comedy About A Bank Robbery (Criterion Theatre), Peter Pan Goes Wrong (Apollo Theatre), Lights! Camera! Improvise! (Duchess Theatre, Canal Cafe, Edinburgh for Mischief Theatre) and Spring Awakening (Outfox Productions).
Television credits include: The Goes Wrong Show (BBC), Christmas Carol Goes Wrong (BBC), Peter Pan Goes Wrong (BBC).
Robert Mountford
BBC Exec
Original Theatre credits include: The Habit of Art (UK Tour) & The Haunting of Alice Bowles.
Theatre credits include: The Wind in The Willows and All’s Well That End’s Well (GSC/JST) Offie Award Nomination for best Ensemble. His solo show Vagabonds-My Phil Lynott Odyssey has played to sell out audiences from 2015 to 2021. In 2017 Robert was nominated for best supporting artist for House and Garden (Watermill Theatre). Other Theatre includes the title role in Macbeth and Prospero in The Tempest (Tara Arts), Betrayal (Salisbury Playhouse), Anita and Me (Birmingham Rep).
Robert has performed for the RSC and RNT, regularly appears in Read Not Dead at Shakespeare’s Globe and has been a guest for The School of Night and Saturday Night at the Lockdown Palladium. He has extensively toured the United States in Shakespeare Productions.
Television credits include: North Square, Holby City, Eastenders, Silent Witness, Torn, One Night, Michael Wood’s History of India, Reverse Psychology, London’s Burning and Casualty and A & E.