''Jack Absolute Flies Again'' is a play by

Richard Bean Richard Anthony Bean (born 11 June 1956) is an English playwright. Early years Born in East Hull, Bean was educated at Hull Grammar School, and then studied social psychology at Loughborough University, graduating with a 2:1 BSc Hons. He the ...

and

Oliver Chris Oliver Graham Chris (born 2 November 1978) is an English actor. He has appeared in television series, TV films and on the stage. His work has included theatrical productions in London's West End theatre, West End and Broadway theatre, Broadway in ...

, based on

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as ''The Rivals'', ''The Sc ...

’s 1775 play ''

The Rivals ''The Rivals'' is a comedy of manners by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in five acts which was first performed at Covent Garden Theatre on 17 January 1775. The story has been updated frequently, including a 1935 musical and a 1958 List of Maverick ...

'', a

comedy of manners In English literature, the term comedy of manners (also anti-sentimental comedy) describes a genre of realistic, satirical comedy of the Restoration period (1660–1710) that questions and comments upon the manners and social conventions of a gre ...

''.''

Production

The play was scheduled to make its world première in the

Olivier Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. In ...

at the National Theatre in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

for a limited run between 15 April and 25 July 2020, with the performance on Thursday 23 July to be captured live and broadcast to cinemas through National Theatre Live. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, all scheduled performances were cancelled and the production postponed, not joining the repertoire in either 2020 or 2021. The production was due to be directed by

Thea Sharrock Thea Sharrock (born 1976) is an English theatre and film director. In 2001, when at age 24 she became artistic director of London's Southwark Playhouse, she was the youngest artistic director in British theatre. Early life and education Sharroc ...

, with set and costumes by Mark Thompson, lighting designed by Bruno Poet, music composed by Adrian Johnston with a cast including

Caroline Quentin Caroline Quentin (born Caroline Jones; 11 July 1960) is an English actress, broadcaster and television presenter. Quentin became known for her television appearances: portraying Dorothy in ''Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1998), Maddie Magellan in ...

as Mrs Malaprop,

James Fleet James Edward Fleet (born 11 March 1952) is an English actor of theatre, radio and screen. He is most famous for his roles as the bumbling and well-meaning Tom in the 1994 British romantic comedy film ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' and the dim-w ...

as Sir Anthony Absolute and

Richard Fleeshman Richard Jonathan Fleeshman (born 8 June 1989) is an English actor and singer. His television career began as a 12-year-old, playing Craig Harris for four years in ''Coronation Street'' before going on to become an established television, West E ...

as Dudley Scunthorpe. The production was finally staged in July 2022, with Resident Director Emily Burns directing, and some cast changes including

Kelvin Fletcher Kelvin Warren Fletcher (born 17 January 1984) is an English actor, model, racing driver and presenter. He played Andy Sugden in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', a role he played from 1996 until 2016. In 2019, Fletcher won the seventeenth seri ...

as Dudley Scunthorpe.

References

Comedy plays Plays based on other plays Plays by Richard Bean 2022 plays {{Play-stub