AS indicated by the image of Martin Barrass in Mr Toad mode on the brochure cover for the 2014 programme at York Theatre Royal, the perennial pantomime comic stooge is to reprise his dandily dressed amphibian role from 2010.
Mike Kenny’s stage adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind In The Willows will be revived next summer from July 31 to August 30.
Directed by artistic director Damian Cruden, it will swap the ground-breaking in-the-round set design of four years ago for a “new theatre configuration to surprise and delight, once again bringing you closer to the action on stage”. More will be revealed later but the Theatre Royal’s proscenium arch structure will reassert itself.
“I loved doing that show so much,” says Martin. “It’s great to be coming back as Mr Toad for the summer.”
More immediately, after his 600 West End performances as Alfie, the doddering old waiter with the dicky ticker in One Man, Two Guvnors, Martin is now one man, two roles in the Theatre Royal pantomime. He is playing both the dame’s son, Mankee Twankey, and Wisehopper, an even more ancient Eastern variation on Alfie, until February 1 next year.
Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
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