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Simon Williams in Yes, Prime Minister Tour

The sell-out production of Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay’s play Yes, Prime Minister ends its London run at the Gielgud Theatre on 15 January, before embarking on a UK-wide tour, stopping off at Salford via the Lowry in May featuring Simon Williams as Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby and Richard McCabe as Prime Minister Jim Hacker.

Acclaimed English actor Simon Williams is best known for playing James Bellamy in the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. He also appeared in three series of the sitcom Don't Wait Up as Dr. Charles Cartwright and in the medical drama Holby City as Sir Charles Merrick from 2000-2003. Throughout his career, Williams has appeared on stage in numerous productions, most recently in David Hare’s production of The Power of Yes at the National Theatre.

Richard McCabe is an Olivier award-nominated classical actor who has been an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) since 1997. He has performed in numerous productions for the RSC, National Theatre, Barbican and performed in playhouses throughout the country. He recently appeared at the Chichester Festival Theatre in Bingo: Scenes of Money and Death alongside Patrick Stewart and the double bill of Tom Stoppard’s The Real Inspector Hound and Richard Sheridan’s The Critic. McCabe's recent TV roles include BBC One's Wallander and Spooks.

Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, the original writers of the classic TV series Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister have reunited for this anniversary production which has received great critical and public acclaim during both its initial season at Chichester Festival Theatre and current run at the Gielgud Theatre.
 
Prime Minister Jim Hacker and Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby face a country in financial meltdown. The only prospect of salvation comes from morally dubious allies – leading to deliciously comic consequences.  

Jay and Lynn’s BAFTA award-winning political comedy Yes, Minister first aired on BBC2 in 1980 and ran until 1984. The sequel, Yes, Prime Minister ran from 1986 until 1988.

The recession-busting West End production of Yes, Prime Minister recouped within five weeks of opening, taking over £2.5 million by mid-November, proving that the brand remains one of the strongest in UK comedy.

Yes, Prime Minister runs at the Lowry from 9 - 14 May.
 

- by Glenn Meads

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