Posh (play)
| Posh | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Laura Wade |
| Characters | 14 |
| Date premiered | April 2010 |
| Place premiered | Royal Court Theatre, London |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Drama |
| Official site | |
Posh is a play by the British playwright
Plot
Ten members of "The Riot Club", an exclusive Oxford University
As the members get more drunk and rowdy their bullying of each other and of Chris and Rachel gets worse. They try to force Rachel to kiss them all; she runs out and they wreck the room. Chris bursts in, outraged, and the members assault him, knocking him out. Horrified, they panic and bar the door, despite the landlord being seriously hurt. Hugo calls an ambulance, much to everyone else's annoyance. Eventually they all agree to pin the blame on Alistair, who has consistently riled them throughout the night. They agree that, as they will all end up being successful, they will look after Alistair after university and make sure they 'see him right'. They open the door to the distraught Rachel and the ambulance approaches.
Weeks later Alistair meets with Jeremy, who has managed to weaken the charge against Alistair and effectively get him off the hook. Intrigued by Alistair's politics, Jeremy promises Alistair that he will be keeping a close eye on him in future and that he has high hopes for him.
Cast
| Character | Original Cast, 2010 | West End Cast, 2012 | Regional Premiere Cast, 2015 | All-Female Cast, 2017 | Vancouver Cast, 2017 | UK Tour Cast, 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Lyndsey Turner[2] | Lyndsey Turner | Susannah Tresilian[3] | Cressida Carré | Allyson Fournier | Lucy Hughes |
| Jeremy (an MP) | Simon Shepherd | Simon Shepherd | Laurence Kennedy | Sarah Thom | Michael Shewchuk | Simon Rhodes |
| Chris | Daniel Ryan | Steffan Rhodri | Neil Caple | Sarah Thom | Michael Shewchuk | Peter McNeil O'Connor |
| Rachel | Fiona Button | Jessica Ransom | Charlotte Brimble | Toni Peach | Mariela Shuley | Isobel Laidler |
| Charlie | Charlotte Lucas | Charlotte Lucas | Joanne Evans | Toni Peach | Caroline Doyle | Ellie Nunn |
| Alistair Ryle | Leo Bill | Leo Bill | Jordan Metcalfe | Serena Jennings | Riaan Smit | Tyger Drew-Honey |
| Toby Maitland | Jolyon Coy | Jolyon Coy | Tom Clegg | Molly Hanson | Cole Howard | Matthew Entwistle |
| Hugo Fraser-Tyrwhitt | David Dawson | Pip Carter | Tom Hanson | Lucy Aarden | Kevin Hatch | Ollie Appleby |
| Guy Bellingfield | Joshua McGuire | Joshua McGuire | Philip Labey | Amani Zardoe | Jake Sheardown | Adam Mirsky |
| George Balfour | Richard Goulding | Richard Goulding | Jamie Satterthwaite | Macy Nyman | Thomas Van Kalken | Joseph Tyler Todd |
| Harry Villiers | Harry Hadden-Paton | Max Bennett | Robbie Jarvis | Alice Brittain | Kelly McCabe | Jack Whittle |
| Ed Montgomery | Kit Harington | Harry Lister Smith | Kaffe Keating | Verity Kirk | Dylan Leonard | Taylor Mee |
| Dimitri Mitropoulos | Henry Lloyd-Hughes | Henry Lloyd-Hughes | Simon Haines | Cassie Bradley | David Z. Cohen | Jamie Littlewood |
| James Leighton-Masters | Tom Mison | Tom Mison | Tom Palmer | Gabby Wong | Tim Howe | Chris Born |
| Miles Richards | James Norton | Edward Killingback | Dario Coates | Jessica Siân | Tristan Smith | George Prentice |
Premiere
The Royal Court Theatre production opened during the 2010 United Kingdom general election campaign and garnered much attention for its timely portrayal of an Oxford University dining club which might be seen as a parody of the real life Bullingdon Club. A number of prominent Conservative politicians have been members of the Bullingdon, including David Cameron, George Osborne and Boris Johnson.
The production's scene changes were marked by the Riot Club's a cappella renditions of contemporary popular music such as "
West End production
In 2012 the Royal Court production of the show was revived in the
Female-led productions
In March 2016, female-led theatre company Anonymous Is A Woman Theatre Company staged a rehearsed reading of the play, directed by Lucy Jane Atkinson, in which the genders were cast in reverse: women played the 12 male roles; men played the 2 female roles.[4] The following week, at AIAWTC's Women in the West End festival at the Arts Theatre, a gender-reversed scene from the play was performed, complemented by a non-gender reversed performance of the same scene.[5][6]
The following year, an all-female production of the play was staged at Pleasance Islington, directed by Cressida Carré and starring Cassie Bradley.[7] All 14 roles, male and female, were played by women. The play was performed as it was initially written by Wade, using the male names and the “he” pronoun. The playwright, Laura Wade, said: “It’s always interesting to see a new cast take on Posh, but it’ll be fascinating to see what light an all-female company can throw on the play’s world of power and privilege. I’m often asked what Posh would have been like if there were women in the Riot Club instead of men. Perhaps now I get to find out.”
Subsequent productions
In February 2015 the regional premiere was co-produced by Nottingham Playhouse and Salisbury Playhouse, directed by Susannah Tresilian.[8]
Film adaptation
The Riot Club, a film adaptation of the play, directed by Lone Scherfig,[9] was released in 2014.[10]
Reception
Both London productions received generally favourable reviews; the ensemble was well praised with some reviewers comparing the young male cast to the original cast of
A new student edition of the play was published by Methuen Drama in February 2024. This contained a new interview with Laura Wade about the play, an 8,000 word introduction and notes by Henry Bell. [11]
References
- ^ Posh at The Royal Court
- ^ Cast Announcement, Royal Court
- ^ NOTTINGHAM PLAYHOUSE THEATRE COMPANY AND SALISBURY PLAYHOUSE PRESENT POSH
- ^ "POSH rehearsed reading". TicketSource. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
- ^ "Women in the West End". aiawtheatreco 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
- ^ Anonymous is a Woman [@AIAWTheatreCo] (30 March 2016). "Final scene don't #POSH coming up #genderreversed" (Tweet). Retrieved 3 July 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Posh by Laura Wade". Posh by Laura Wade. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
- ^ Snow, Georgia (31 October 2014). "Posh leads Nottingham Playhouse's spring 2015 season". The Stage. Nottingham. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ "The Riot Club". IMDb.
- ^ de Semlyen, Phil (13 May 2014). "New Trailer For The Riot Club". Empire. Bauer Consumer Media. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
- ^ Wade, Laura (31 January 2024). "Posh: Student Edition". Methuen Drama. Retrieved 31 January 2024.