Derby Theatre is thrilled to announce the cast for their upcoming production of The Palace of Varieties, on from Saturday 22 January until Saturday 5 February.
Playing the central role of Dennis Skinner will be Gareth Williams. Gareth played Scrooge in Derby Theatre’s production of A Christmas Carol in 2019. Other credits include: The Secret Garden, Comedy of Errors and Macbeth for Chester Performs and the film, Peterloo directed by Mike Leigh.
Joining Gareth will be Lisa Allen and Jack Brown.
Lisa Allen last performed at Derby Theatre in their smash-hit production of Brassed Off in 2015, with other credits including various stage productions of Horrible Histories for Birmingham Stage Company and DCI Banks, Waterloo Road and Heartbeat for TV.
Jack Brown’s credits include Cinderella and Early Doors for Not Too Tame; Much Ado About Nothing for Infinite Jest and Polka Theatre; Home for Theatre Royal Stratford East and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Michael Grandage Theatre Company in the West End.
About The Show
Love him or hate him, Dennis Skinner, ex-miner and fifty years a Socialist M.P. is not a man to be ignored.
His infamous belligerence and acerbic wit in the House of Commons, earned him recognition as “The Beast of Bolsover”. But beneath the hard-line political image, is a man with a passion for Nature and a soul who loves to sing.
In the music-hall tradition of working men’s clubs, Dennis describes the Houses of Parliament as “The Palace of Varieties”.
The show is driven by politics and a-cappella, in a fast-moving, entertaining night out down the miners’ welfare.
The Palace of Varieties is written by Kevin Fegan and will be directed by Jimmy Fairhurst (Artistic Director of Not Too Tame).
Accessible Performances
BSL Interpreted Performance – Thu 27 Jan and Fri 28 Jan, 7.30pm
Captioned Performances – Thu 27 Jan, 7.30pm & Sat 5 Feb, 7.30pm
Dementia Friendly Performance – Wed 2 Feb, 3pm