In a period Hollywood satire

Harry Enfield is to make his theatrical stage debut in a satirical play set in the early days of Hollywood ‘talkies’.

The comedian will star as movie mogul Herman Glogauer in a revival of the 1930 play Once In A  Lifetime at London’s Young Vic Theatre from November.

Playwright Moss Hart and Marx Brothers writer George S Kaufman penned the play just a couple of years after the first talking picture, The Jazz Singer, hit cinema screens.

The plot involves three New York vaudevillians who head to Los Angeles to open an elocution school at a time when every actor suddenly realises they need a voice.

Glogauer was played by David Suchet in a 1979 Royal Shakespeare Company production and at the National Theatre in 2005, in a revival that received a lukewarm critical reaction.

Richard Jones will direct the new production, which begins previews on November 25 and is scheduled to run until January 14.

Enfield said: ‘When Richard suggested it, I thought that playing this all-powerful Hollywood studio boss sounded like a lot of fun. I love the Young Vic and I’m really excited to be working there, and with Richard Jones and the rest of the company, on this brilliant comedy.’

His co-stars will include Claudie Blakley and John Marquez in a production adapted by Hart’s son Christopher.

Last year, Enfield and Paul Whitehouse toured for the first time in their 25-year comic partnership. Read our review of their show, Legends, here.

Published: 22 Sep 2016