''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' is a play by Guy Unsworth based on the BBC TV sitcom of the same name by Raymond Allen.

Background

The idea for a stage production of ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' began while Joe Pasquale was appearing in ''

Spamalot ''Spamalot'' (also known as ''Monty Python's Spamalot: A Musical (Lovingly) Ripped Off from the Motion Picture ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail) is a musical theatre, stage musical with score by John Du Prez and Eric Idle, with lyrics and book ...

'' at the Playhouse Theatre in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

's West End in June 2013 (with Guy Unsworth as associate director) in which an incident with a faulty electric fan collapsing prompted the idea for Pasquale to play Frank Spencer (originally played in the TV series by

Michael Crawford Michael Patrick Smith (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English actor, comedian and singer. Crawford is best known for playing the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom '' Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'', Cornel ...

). When approached to create the stage version, Raymond Allen (the original TV series writer) gave his blessing for the adaptation as well as the casting of Pasquale (already being a fan of his stand-up shows).

Production history

The play premiered at the Wyvern Theatre in

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on 21 February 2018 before embarking on a UK tour. The production was written and directed by Guy Unsworth, designed by Simon Higlett, scenery built by Splinter Scenery and starred Joe Pasquale as Frank Spencer, Sarah Earnshaw as Betty Spencer and Susie Blake as Mrs Fisher. The playtext was published on 19 July 2018 by Samuel French, Inc. Due to the success of the 2018 tour, the production began another tour with Pasquale, Earnshaw and Blake reprising their roles, however was forced to stop due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The tour recommenced in March 2022, with James Paterson joining as Father O'Hara. A new production opened at the Barn Theatre in

Cirencester Cirencester ( , ; see #Pronunciation, below for more variations) is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold District of Gloucestershire, England. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames. It is the List of ...

directed by Joseph O'Malley which ran from 8 July to 17 August 2024.

Cast and characters

*2020 tour cut short due to

, which continued as the 2022 tour.

Reception

The play received critical acclaim earning four and five stars across many reviews.{{Cite web, date=2018-03-08, title=Review of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em at Richmond Theatre, url=https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/comedy/review-of-mothers-do-ave-em-at-richmond-theatre/, access-date=2021-07-03, website=LondonTheatre1, language=en-GB

References

2018 plays Plays based on television series British plays