Neil LaBute’s new comedy Fat Pig, currently playing at Trafalgar Studios, is to transfer to the Comedy theatre on 11 September, with Kevin Bishop and Nicholas Burns replacing Kris Marshall and Robert Webb in the cast. Joanna Page and Ella Smith remain with the production.
Fat Pig, which opened at Trafalgar Studio 1 in May this year, follows Tom, who finds he has an instant connection with Helen, but it is not exactly love at first sight. Helen is a bright, funny, sexy young woman who happens to be plus-sized, and it is only so long before the insults start to fly from Tom’s shallow yet shockingly funny office buddies.
Burns takes over from Webb in the role of Tom. Regularly seen on television, his credits include Bernidorm, Absolute Power, Man Stroke Woman and Nathan Barley. Burns’s stage work includes hit satire The Madness Of George Dubya, which ran off-West End in 2003.
Bishop, who replaces Marshall as Tom’s quick-witted office buddy Carter, developed his own Channel 4 sketch show, The Kevin Bishop Show, after coming into the public eye through performances on celebrity satire Star Stories. He was previously seen on the London stage playing Dudley Moore in Pete And Dud: Come Again at the Venue in 2006.
The pair joins Joanna Page (Gavin And Stacey, Love Actually) and Ella Smith, who continue to play Jeannie and Helen respectively.
Playwright LaBute, who also directs, has seen several of his plays performed on the London stage in recent years, including Helter Skelter/Land Of The Dead at the Bush earlier this year, Bash at Trafalgar Studios, This Is How It Goes at the Donmar Warehouse and Some Girl(s) at the Gielgud.
Fat Pig plays at Trafalgar Studio 1 until 6 September before opening at the Comedy on 11 September. Following swiftly on its heels into Trafalgar Studio 1 is Riflemind, a new play by Andrew Upton starring John Hannah, which begins performances on 15 September.
CB