Theatre News

Phil Jupitus among 16 comedians announced for Manwatching at the Royal Court

The show will see the male comedians perform an unseen script written by a woman

Phil Jupitus, Romesh Ranganathan and Miles Jupp
Phil Jupitus, Romesh Ranganathan and Miles Jupp
© Dan Wooller for WhatsOnStage (Jupitus/Jupp)

The male comedians who will perform Manwatching at the Royal Court have been announced.

Each performance of Manwatching will see a different comedian read a script, written by an anonymous woman about what she thinks of sex with men, for the first time on stage.

Rob Beckett, Nick Frost, Phill Jupitus, Romesh Ranganathan and Adam Buxton are among the comedians who will perform the piece.

Other performers include Will Adamsdale, Danny Brown, Miles Jupp, Funmbi Otomayo, John-Luke Roberts, Sunil Patel, Arthur Smith, Mark Thomas, Thom Tuck, Phil Wang and Liam Williams.

Audiences will only find out which comedian will perform as he takes to the stage on the night.

Commenting on the piece, the anonymous writer said: "Although men are objectified by other men, I was at a loss to think of many examples of men being objectified by women, and the examples I could think of were quite complicated – frequently involving the man's profession rather than appearance (in Sex and the City, for example, men are usually referred to in shorthand by whatever job it is they do rather than how they look or act), or their dominance was the source of objectification.

"So I thought, who better to give the words of a woman desiring men to, than the voice of a man, as it's so much more comfortable and familiar for us to hear about desire through the male perspective?"

Running at the Royal Court from 10 May, the piece will be directed by Royal Court associate director Lucy Morrison.