A cast including James Wilby will join Steve Nallon in Jonathan Maitland’s Dead Sheep when it receives its world premiere at London’s Park Theatre next month.
The tragedy and comedy-tinged drama, which stars Spitting Image’s Nallon as Margaret Thatcher, will bring loyalty, love, political morality and Britishness to the Finsbury Park venue from 1 April to 9 May.
Death In Paradise’s Wilby, whose recent stage credits include The Second Mrs Tanqueray at the Rose Theatre Kingston and Don Juan in the West End, will take on the role of Geoffrey Howe, the Foreign Secretary sacked by Thatcher in 1989.
Jill Baker, last seen on the London stage in Calendar Girls at the Noël Coward Theatre, will play his on-stage wife Elspeth, the woman who inspired Howe to overcome his limitations and produce the speech that would later destroy the female Prime Minister.
Joining the trio in the production, which charts this true story of how Thatcher was brought down by her one time friend and political soul mate, are The Archers’ Graham Seed (Me And My Girl, West End), Tim Wallers (Yes, Prime Minister, West End) and John Wark (Toast, Park Theatre).
Directed by former Regent’s Park Open Air Artistic Director Ian Talbot, Dead Sheep’s forthcoming run coincides with the 25th anniversary of Howe’s Parliament-changing announcement and promises to shed new light on his historic speech. It will open in the Park Theatre’s largest space, Park200, following Brad Fraser’s critically acclaimed dark comedy Kill Me Now, which closes on 29 March.