Interviews

Brendan O’Carroll On … Good Mourning Mrs Brown

Whatsonstage.com Northeast took the opportunity to catch up with comedian Brendan O’Carroll as he announced the return of Agnes Brown in an Arena Tour. As Mrs. Brown, O’Carroll plays the old “mammy” who heads her almost dysfunctional family together with hilarious results.

Due the ongoing worldwide success of his stage shows and the hit BBC TV show (which has been commissioned for a second series) Agnes Brown is back! This time though she will be reducing audiences in to fits of laughter, as usual, but in much larger venues to meet demand and the tour kicks off, a Brendan request, at our own Metro Radio Arena in June.

The arena will use an intimate theatre style to accommodate the show, but he is aware that the comedy will not work if the audience was so far away and he appears only as a figure in the distance about an inch tall. However the venue will hold a much larger audience that the Journal Tyne Theatre, which he has repeatedly packed out for the past few years.

The Mrs Brown trilogy of comedies (there are actually five plays in the series) have built a loyal following and it is the second in the series, Good Mourning Mrs Brown, which will be touring. Although it does not matter if you see the plays out of sequence or just as a standalone comedy as they are all hilarious. Working with several members of his family the cast have almost a repertory feel which adds to the enjoyment, as Brendan often leaves the script and adlibs, leaving the audience in hysterics as the cast try gamely to carry on.

When we asked what would follow the tour Brendan told us he is also working with Bobby Ball on a new TV series which he is very excited about, as he has admired Bobby’s work for many years.

Also while preparing Mrs. Brown for television he worked with the writer of The Vicar of Dibley to ensure that the transfer from stage to screen worked. But BBC Executives were worried over the inclusion of what they thought was a new character called BOB in the scripts, especially when it was revealed this referred to a “Bit Of Business” that Brendan would add in. The result was a TV camera is trained on him at all time when recording.

The demands of the entertainment world means Brendan works flat out for six months a year while in essence taking the other six months off. During his time off he enjoys nothing more than taking his young family to Disney World near their Florida home, where he fits right in as he becomes a kid again himself.

The arena tours starts at the Metro Radio Arena in June, before moving to other venues around the country.