Am dram group wins Blackadder rights

Blackadder is to be put on stage for the first time – thanks to a small amateur dramatics group.

West Yorkshire’s Follow Spot Theatre company has become the first in the world to be given the rights to perform a play based on the series after agreeing to give all its profits to Comic Relief.

John Kitching, who helped set up the group, landed his coup after contacting writers Ben Elton and Richard Curtis directly.

He said: ‘We are beside ourselves with joy to be quite honest. As far as we understand it, we\'re the first people to put the show on stage.

‘When I told the rest of our people they were all itching for a part. ‘We\'re not going to be as good as Rowan Atkinson and the rest of the cast, but hopefully people will enjoy seeing some great classic comedy on stage for the first time.

He said he had the idea of staging Blackadder Goes Forth after performed a version of another classic sitcom, Dad\'s Army, last year.

He told the Yorkshire Post: ‘I came home one night and my son had been listening to my old audio tapes of the Blackadder series and I realised that it was the perfect show to put on stage – mainly because it has more or less one set, in the trenches.’

After several letters, Kitching – who will take the part of Captaim Blackadder himself - was given permission to stage the show, provided he paid the £75-a-night fee to use the material to Curtis’s charity.

The play runs at Guiseley Theatre from Thursday to Saturday.

Box office manager Christine Dawson said: ‘The phone has been going mad with people ringing. We have had people form as far away as Reading ringing for tickets.’

Published: 17 Oct 2006