Yes, Prime Minister, the stage version of the popular 1980s sitcom, is to remain in the West End after its run at the Apollo theatre ends on 17 September by moving to the Gielgud theatre.
The show, which currently stars Richard McCabe as PM Jim Hacker and Simon Williams as Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby, will play at the Gielgud theatre from 20 September to 19 November.
Written by the sitcom’s original writers Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, Yes, Prime Minister applies the politician-civil servant dynamic between Hacker and Appleby to the 21st century with a plot that involves financial crisis, global warming and a foreign leader with morally dubious preferences.
The production – which Lynn also directs – began life in London at the Gielgud theatre last summer with David Haig and Henry Goodman in the principal roles. McCabe and Williams took over for the UK tour, before the show came to London’s Apollo theatre last month.
Yes, Prime Minister leaves the Apollo to make way for the return of Jez Butterworth’s award-winning play Jerusalem, which offers London audiences another chance to see Mark Rylance’s Olivier and Tony-winning performance as local waster Johnny Byron in this tale of life in rural England.
Yes, Prime Minister’s run at the Gielgud theatre will fill the gap left by the early closure of Lend Me A Tenor The Musical, before new show The Ladykillers moves in on 26 November.
CB