Nice New Tie presents

The RED PRINCE

Acclaimed new satirical comedy.Craig Kitman MP didn't sign up for this.Written by Tim Dawson. Directed by Susan Nickson. Performed by Benjamin May.New dates coming soon.

Reviews, recommendations and praise⭐⭐⭐⭐ "In the phrasing so commonly used by our politicians: let me be absolutely clear, I do not want anyone to miss this show... A sharply observed, fiercely intelligent piece of theatre, delivered with extraordinary nuance and stamina." - Simon Finn, Everything Theatre⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Dark political satire: an impressive performance and piercing comedy... The satirical prowess of this play is without a doubt." - Tatiana Gilfillan, A Young(ish) Perspective"A funny and painfully accurate dramatisation of the Starmer epoch." - Tim Stanley, The Daily Telegraph"Politics and fun are reunited - in the best traditions of Yes, Minister and The Thick of It - in this astute and very, very funny show. A laugh packed night - gag after gag after gag!" - Gareth Roberts, The Spectator"A refreshing, non-partisan romp through the life of a Parliamentarian, asking deeper questions but also giving us plenty of laugh-out-loud jokes along the way." - James Cary, Writer (Miranda, Bluestone 42, Thanks A Lot, Milton Jones!)"This play is an absolute BLAST!" - Ed Bye, Director (Red Dwarf, Bottom, Absolutely Fabulous)

Audience recommendations"I was lucky enough to see this last Saturday. I hope it tours the country and brings some much-needed comedy and genuine satire to the Edinburgh Fringe this year." - Audience member"Terrifically enjoyable... If it comes to a theatre near you, don't miss it." - Audience member"A very funny hour, with Labour properly skewered but all parties taking some decent blows." - Audience member

About the creative teamWriter Tim Dawson's BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Drama Not For Turning was described by author and journalist Julian Dutton as “a sparkling politico-personal drama with a witty sculpted script”. Other credits include The Now Show (BBC Radio 4) and Breaking the News (BBC Scotland). He is the editor of British Comedy Guide's professional platform, BCG Pro.Director Susan Nickson created hit BBC sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, which ran for nine series. Her recent Sky comedy, Rosie Molloy Gives Up Everything, was described by Stuart Jeffries of The Guardian as offering “gags galore” with “a script stuffed with jokes”. Other credits include Birds of a Feather (ITV) and Grownups (BBC).Actor Benjamin May is no stranger to political roles, having played David Cameron in Windrush: The Betrayal for Agape Theatre. Further theatre includes Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest (Bear Pit, Stratford Upon-Avon), the Duke of Albany in King Lear (Brockley Jack) and The Riddler (Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi). Voiceover includes IKEA, Airalo and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Last year, Benjamin appeared in the film Tea with Friends with Ruby Bentall and shot a documentary for Amazon Prime.Benjamin is also the producer of Nice New Tie’s The Red Prince, in which he plays struggling MP Craig Kitman.

More about The Red PrinceCraig Kitman MP didn't sign up for this.It’s been 18 months since Labour’s “loveless landslide” swept him into Parliament. 18 months of voting for things he doesn’t understand. Constituents he can’t help. Abuse. Failure. Late-night drinking sessions.And so we find him.One man. One constituency office. Wondering how he got here - and how the hell he gets out.Then, terrier-like journalist Abigail McCormack calls.Things are about to get a lot worse...

Review: The Red Prince, Lion and Unicorn Theatre⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Excellent
Simon Finn, Everything TheatreWell-crafted contemporary political commentary delivered with real power, precision and punch.I think I’m going to have to stop reading content warnings before I undertake reviews. Having thought that I had booked to see a comedy, I made a final check of the details before leaving the house and was confronted with a summary for this show that would potentially cast a completely different light over the whole night.That meant that when The Red Prince at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre launched its first in a series of (what turned out to be) relentless sharp political gags, I was conflicted. Was I supposed to be laughing? The answer was a definite yes.Benjamin May plays new Labour MP Craig Kitman in this sharp political satire. Eighteen months into power and it seems that both politically and personally the wheels have most definitely fallen off the bus for this utterly exhausted and already jaded MP. After being caught by a local reporter Googling how to do his job in the early days of power, it’s downhill from there really. Divorce and alcoholism follow, quickly succeeded by a scandal that threatens to ruin him.This is played out in an hour-long potent and athletic monologue, delivered directly to the audience from Kitman’s constituency office. From the incessant and triggering (but strangely not mentioned in the content warning) sounds of digital alerts and alarms which open the show, May’s Kitman emerges as a flawed but deeply human character who is trying to do his best. What his plight highlights is the inhumanity of politics, the lack of nuance in UK political life both professionally and personally, and the ineffectiveness of our current political system.Nothing is spared writer Tim Dawson’s scalpel-sharp nib, as the targets of his satire fire like a machine gun into the audience. This is clearly not a script that has been sitting on a dusty shelf while it gestates into a fully-fledged work; the gags are so contemporary (Peter Mandelson) that it makes the work feel very much alive. It would be wrong of me to try and resurrect some of the best lines here simply because they are so well crafted that my re-phrasing will not do them justice. In the phrasing so commonly used by our politicians: let me be absolutely clear, I do not want anyone to miss this show. This show is meticulously prepared and delivered. May’s comic timing is note-perfect and he has a deep understanding of Kitman’s character. His is a deeply compelling performance.That said, this relentless comic register is the one area where the show slightly limits its own impact. Given the gravity of the material and the very real human cost that underpins Kitman’s disintegration, a greater variation of tone or a moment of stillness might have allowed the themes to settle more deeply and, paradoxically, given the comedy even more potency. Even so, this remains a sharply observed, fiercely intelligent piece of theatre, delivered with extraordinary nuance and stamina. It’s hard to imagine anyone leaving without feeling both invigorated and uncomfortably implicated.

Review: The Red Prince at Lion and Unicorn⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Excellent
Tatiana Gilfillan, A Young(ish) PerspectiveDark political satire: an impressive performance and piercing comedy.The scene is set: a tired, messy, red rosette studded office, with a bottle of white wine sitting on the table, shortly to be opened. I hope it isn’t too warm. Regardless, the wine diminishes as the play progresses. Our Labour MP Craig Kitman (Benjamin May) appears, a relic of his party’s triumph following the 2024 Labour landslide victory. He has an anxiously furrowed brow, a slightly hollow expression and a sloppy tie. His outlook on life matches that of his tie - he is exhausted, both personally and professionally, leading to alcohol abuse that explains why his tie isn’t neater.The play is an hour-long monologue, and May doesn’t let up once. It is an absolute tour de force of a performance, with a wonderful mix of astute satire and moments of deep pathos. The writer Tim Dawson creates in Kitman an incisive portrait of a disillusioned MP without any firm convictions, born on a tide of initial optimism, who sinks when it becomes clear that he is lost in a political landscape without a dynamic centre. There are some good one-liners about political ineptitude and the relationship between politicians and the press (Kitman amusingly compares the imagined response of different headlines of various news outlets to his bumbling and failures). The play feels very in tune with the current political climate, down to the crafting of single arrow-like phrases.May portrays Kitman’s identity crisis and latent self-loathing with nuance. He is both pitiable and at times unlikeable, with his lack of self-accountability and gestures towards misogyny as he fumbles through his associations with different women. He is also intensely lonely, following a divorce from his wife and a mounting disassociation from his work and purpose. The addition of incessant beeps and ringing from his phone, which Kitman at first ignores, is a keen creative choice from director Susan Nickson, creating an ambiance of increasing tension and anxiety. A less astute choice is the moments of blackout - they feel slightly random and detract from the sense of a relentless downward spiral as political scandal looms.The satirical prowess of this play is without a doubt - but it felt that, like the political moment of the party it mirrors, it lacked a clear centre. Kitman’s deep and tragic lack of connection to people or purpose goes beyond political satire and isn’t fully realised in the play. We see moments of vulnerability that hover on the edge of real confrontation of the human cost of the political system today, both for those within it and outside of it. That being said, the play delivers an hour of dark satire that will entertain and tease deeper questions.

• Instagram
• Twitter