''The Duck House'' is a 2013 comedy farce play written by

Dan Patterson Dan Patterson (born March 1960) is a British television producer and writer, responsible for the production of both the British and American incarnations of the improvisation show ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' and the British satirical panel show '' ...

and Colin Swash. It is based around the events of the 2009 UK parliamentary expenses scandal, and made its world premiere at the

Yvonne Arnaud Theatre The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre is a theatre located in Guildford, Surrey, England. Named after the actress Yvonne Arnaud, it presents a series of locally produced and national touring productions, including opera, ballet and pantomime. The theatre ...

in October 2013, at the start of a five-week UK tour. The production then transferred to the West End's

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...

, where it ran until 29 March 2014.

Synopsis

The play is set in May 2009, one year before the General Election, Gordon Brown's Labour government is unpopular. Robert Houston is a Labour backbencher seeking to defect to the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

to keep his seat, when the expenses scandal hits the papers the day before his interview with Sir Norman Cavendish to complete the switch. Houston is in trouble and so is his staff (his wife Felicity, his son Seb and his Russian housekeeper Ludmilla) and somehow Seb's girlfriend Holly becomes involved with Sir Norman. What follows is a comedy of errors as Houston and his family try to cover their expenses claims including a massage chair, a glittered

toilet seat A toilet seat is a hinged unit consisting of a round or oval open seat, and usually a lid, which is bolted onto the bowl of a toilet used in a sitting position (as opposed to a squat toilet). The seat can be either for a flush toilet or a dry to ...

, hanging baskets and an ornamental duck house.

Production history

The Duck House is a farce

political satire Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where s ...

written by ''

Mock the Week ''Mock the Week'' is a British topical satirical celebrity panel show, created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. It was produced by Angst Productions for BBC Two, and was broadcast from 5 June 2005 to 4 November 2022. The programme was present ...

s producer

and '' Have I Got News for You'' writer Colin Swash. Set during

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...

's tenure as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

it is based on the events of the 2009 UK parliamentary expenses scandal. The show's title is in reference to one specific MP's expense claim – that of Sir Peter Viggers of £1,645 for a duck house at his constituency home. The production is directed by Terry Johnson featuring set and costume design by Lez Brotherston, sound by John Leonard and lighting by Mark Henderson. The show held a pre- West End tour starting in October 2013 at the

in Guildford with further dates in Malvern,

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

before beginning previews at the

, London on 27 November 2013, with an official opening night on 10 December, booking until 29 March 2014. The shows lead roles are played by

Ben Miller Bennet Evan Miller (born 24 February 1966) is an English actor, comedian, and author. He rose to fame as one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller. Miller is also known for playing the lead role of DI Richard Poole in the first two serie ...

Debbie Chazen Deborah Chazen (born 1 September 1971) is an English actress. She is best known for portraying Annie in the BBC comedy ''The Smoking Room'', Big Claire in ''Mine All Mine'', and various roles in the BBC sketch show ''Tittybangbang''. Alongside t ...

, James Musgrave and Simon Shepherd. Whilst speaking about the show Miller said 'They say that comedy equals tragedy plus time, and traumatic as the expense scandal was hopefully we can all now have a bloody good laugh about it. And if any MPs don't like it they can always claim for it on expenses.' Only one politician attended the shows opening night, former Labour home secretary

Alan Johnson Alan Arthur Johnson (born 17 May 1950) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Skills from 2006 to 2007, Secretary of State for Health from 2007 to 2009, Home Secretary from 2009 to 2010, and Shadow Chanc ...

. A typical performance runs two hours and 15 minutes, including one interval of 15 mins.

Principal roles and original cast

Critical reception

The production received mixed to positive reviews. Charles Spencer in ''The Telegraph'' wrote that the show featured some ''"sublime comic moments"'' and that ''"Subtle it certainly ain’t, but at its ribald best The Duck House proves genuinely hilarious."'' The Metro described actor

as an ''"unimpeachable, amazingly assured comic presence throughout''" and described the direction of Terry Johnson as delivered with ''"verve and precision''". Some were more critical. Dominic Maxwell in ''The Times'' noted the show was by first time playwrights and the play started ''"fast and it’s really funny"'', but felt the show's plot structure didn't ultimately have enough support to it. He concluded however that ''"plenty of the crowd kept laughing till the end."'' Ian Shuttleworth of ''The Financial Times'' felt that although the play was ''"topical"'' it took ''"passing shots at pretty much every other political “outrage” of recent years"'' and as such was ''"lazier even than a dedicated couch potato."'' He did however praise what he called a ''"fine production"'', praising Johnson's attention to the ''"broad farce and the sardonic one-liners''" and praising Miller as an ''"effective linchpin.''"

Awards and nominations

London production

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duck House, The 2013 plays Comedy plays English plays West End plays