'Diary of a Nobody' hits the London stage in rambunctious new adaptation

This adaptation of the Grossmiths' satire on Victorian middle-class pretension is a cheerful romp by a hotly-tipped young director, writes Joe Lloyd

Based on the novel  Evelyn Waugh  considered ‘the funniest book in the world’, Rough Haired Pointer’s production of  Diary of a Nobody  combines sharp wit with slapstick hilarity.

Following a sold out run at the White Bear in June, this staging of George and Weedon Grossmith's 1892 novel has been revived for ten performances in late July and August. Expect a joyous evening of laughter - with a startlingly contemporary sense of humour - as well as an observant look at Victorian suburban life

The Story…

The play centres around  Charles Pooter, City clerk and self-proclaimed ‘nobody’, and his new terrace in Holloway. Pooter – occasionally frivolous, often pompous, always well-meaning – and his forbearing wife Carrie attempt to keep up appearances and repute, all the while contending with angry tradesmen, a useless maid, their foppish son Lupin and the respectively insipid and miscreant friends Cummings and Gowing. There’s little of an overarching plot, but it doesn’t matter  – the farcical situations the Pooters endure provide a comic momentum of their own.

The People...

Rough Haired Pointer have quickly established themselves as a significant fringe voice. Director Mary Franklin and designer Carin Nakanishi, the company’s founders, continue their playful relationship with the theatrical form. The direction transforms Pooter’s measured diary into a whirlwind of set-piece events. Nakanishi’s set, with black furniture painted on white walls and projected overlays for different scenes, is redolent of Weedon Grossmith’s original illustrations. Four actors, all male, take on forty-five roles, sometimes playing several simultaneously. Jordan Mallory-Skinner and Geordie Wright  return from the previous run, joined by George Fouracres and Jamie Treacher. Mallory-Skinner won particular acclaim in June for his unexaggerated, gestural performance as Carrie Pooter, while Fouracres is an alumni of the admired Cambridge Footlights.

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