London Dates Set for MY LIFE WITH KENNETH WILLIAMS Prior to National Tour

It’s been thirty years since David Benson took Edinburgh Fringe by storm with his debut solo show, Think No Evil of Us: My Life with Kenneth Williams, winning a coveted Scotsman newspaper Fringe First Award. Now, in celebration of what would have been Kenneth Williams’ 100th birthday on 22 February, 2026 David Benson revisits his classic performance in a new and revised version of the hit show.

In a dazzling display of impeccably honed stage craft, Benson gives an unsparing portrayal of the tormented comic genius, lurching from hilarity to self-pity in public and in private.

The Jackanory Connection

In 1975, at the age of 13, Benson wrote a short story called “The Rag-and-Bone Man” for a contest on  the BBC 1 children’s series Jackanory, a daily programme to encourage reading which featured an actor  reading from children’s novels or folk tales while seated in an arm-chair. Kenneth Williams was one of  the most popular presenters reading read 69 books over the life of the programme. Benson’s story was chosen as a winner from 15,000 entries by Kenneth Williams himself, who then performed the story on national television.

Fifty years on, David Benson says: “At the time, it was a huge embarrassment to me. I was now associated in the minds of my enemies at school with the most outrageously camp man in England.  For a schoolboy desperately struggling with his sexuality in the hostile environment of 1970s Britain, the connection was mortifying. As I found out at school next day…”

Ironically, the publication of Williams’ own diaries in 1994 revealed a man who was every bit as terrified of his sexual nature as the Birmingham schoolboy whose writing caught his eye.

Think No Evil of Us returns as My Life With Kenneth Williams

In this new edition of the legendary show, Benson includes extracts from the only recording that exists of that 1975 broadcast and, with characteristic honesty, tells of the day a BBC researcher came to visit and by chance captured on tape the terrifying truth of the boy’s home-life: his mother’s dangerous descent into paranoid psychosis.

FAVERSHAM

The Alex
Sunday 25th January at 7:30pm
https://thealex.org.uk/event/my-life-with-kenneth-williams/

WINCHESTER

Theatre Royal
Wednesday 28th January at 7:30pm
https://www.theatreroyalwinchester.co.uk/whats-on/my-life-kenneth-williams

HENLEY

Kenton Theatre
Thursday 29th January at 7:30pm
https://thekenton.org.uk/events/think-no-evil-of-us-my-life-with-kenneth-williams/

KENDAL

Brewery Arts
Friday 6th February at 8pm
https://www.breweryarts.co.uk/event/my-life-with-kenneth-williams/

STIRLING

Macrobert Arts Centre
Saturday 7th February at 7:30pm
On sale TBC

BEDFORD

Quarry
Friday 13th February at 7:30pm
https://quarrytheatre.ticketsolve.com/shows/873678233/events

SHREWSBURY

Theatre Severn
Saturday 14th February at 7:30pm
https://www.theatresevern.co.uk/shows/whatson/my-life-with-kenneth-williams/

COLCHESTER

Mercury
Tuesday 17th February at 7:30pm
https://www.mercurytheatre.co.uk/event/my-life-with-kenneth-williams/

GUILDFORD

Yvonne Arnaud
Friday 27th February at 7:45pm
Saturday 28th February at 2:45pm & 7:45pm
https://www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk/whats-on/my-life-kenneth-williams

GORLESTON

Pavilion
Friday 6th March at 7:30pm
On sale TBC

PETERBOROUGH

Cresset
Friday 13th March at TBC
On sale TBC

EXETER

Barnfield
Friday 20th March at 7:45pm
On sale TBC

WEYMOUTH

Pavilion
Sunday 28th March at 2:30pm
On sale TBC

Running Time: Approximately 2 hours (including interval)
Age Suitability: 12+
Website: www.mylifewithkennethwilliams.co.uk