theSpaceUK to Bring A JOKE to Edinburgh Fringe Festival

theSpaceUK is proud to present a NEW PLAY FEATURING SCI FI LEGENDS Sylvester McCoy AND Robert Picardo.

An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman walk into a joke...Dr Who and Star Trek stars to appear in 'A JOKE', a new play bound for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

'A JOKE' is a new play written and directed by DAN FREEMAN, the writer behind award-winning audio dramas 'The Minister of Chance' and 'The Light of September' (available on Audible and iTunes respectively).The cast of three - Sylvester McCoy (Dr Who/The Hobbit), Robert Picardo (Stargate/Star Trek Voyager) and Richard Oliver (Best Actor NYC Indie Film Awards 2016) have all appeared in Freeman's audio series, but this is his first foray into writing for theatre.

The company - Robert made his Broadway debut in the leading role in 'Gemini' with Danny Aiello, going on to co-star with Jack Lemmon in Bernard Slade's 'Tribute' on Broadway and West Coast. His work in theatre also includes 'Beyond Therapy' and 'Geniuses' at the Los Angeles Public Theater, 'The Normal Heart' at the Berkeley Repertory Theater (for which he won a Drama-Logue Award), 'A Class Act' at the Pasadena Playhouse and 'On the Twentieth Century' (Ovation Award nominee). He was recently seen in Carl Reiner's 'Enter Laughing - TheMusical' at the Wallis Annenberg Center in Los Angeles and Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre's 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'.

Sylvester's recent stage appearances include comedies such as 'Arsenic & Old Lace' (UK Tour) and 'Noises Off' (Piccadilly Theatre, London ), musicals 'Little Shop of Horrors' and 'Me & My Girl' (UK Tours) and plays 'Evelyn Waugh's Decline & Fall' (Old Red Lion, London), 'Plume' (Tron Theatre, Glasgow) and 'King Lear' (RSC International Tour & New LondonTheatre). Most recently he was seen in John Byrne's new adaptation of 'The Three Sisters' at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow.

Richard trained at Guildhall School Of Music & Drama and The Oxford School Of Drama. Recent stage work includes 'Walk To School' (Southwark Playhouse), 'Mojo' (Drayton Court Theatre), 'Dr Faustus' (Northern Mask Theatre), 'Queen Victoria's Parlour' (Tour & Edinburgh fringe), 'El Quixote' (The Gate Theatre, London) the award winning 'The Rooster Rebellion' at last year's Edinburgh Festival, 'Pvt Wars' for The Theatre Space, and 'Trev' and 'The Trojan Horse' for Corvid Film & Theatre.

The piece has been described as an existential comedy exploring the commonalities of structure between jokes, stories, music and life: Three characters, apparently born into a void, try to work out where, when, who they are and whether the joke is, in fact, on them.

The production is being entirely crowdfunded. Donors will receive items from a treasure trove of signed memorabilia and unusual rewards. These will include receiving a voicemail message recorded by the cast; a birthday card from the stars and even the shoes worn by the actors in the performances. Details can be found at www.danfreeman.co.uk/ajoke

The play will rehearse in Freeman's native Cheshire and there will be two pre-Edinburgh preview performances at the newly-opened Theatre Space in Winsford, Cheshire on Friday 11th and Saturday 12th August (tickets now on sale from www.danfreeman.co.uk/winsford-previews) before moving to theSpaceUK in Edinburgh at theSpace @ Niddry St (Venue 9) from Monday 14th until Sat 26th August inclusive with performances daily at 1.55pm.

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