Overview

The world was cruel to Simeon Duff Mad and mired in the deepest slough Nobody seemed to give a stuff ‘bout Simeon, Simeon Duff Simeon Duff is working class, unemployed and desperate. His wife works. He’s lost all self-esteem. He’s on the scrap heap and wants to end it all . . . and so begins this brilliantly insane comedy about a man on the edge. When word gets out that Duff is going to top himself, a host of ne’er-do-wells crawl out of the woodwork, each wanting to claim his grand gesture for their ‘noble cause’. Let’s face it, why waste a death? But which cause shall it be . . . love, politics, religion, or the rising price of fish? Will the disillusioned Duff go through with it? Will he really top himself for a dubious cause? Is he worth it? An adaptation of Nikolai Erdman's The Suicide (1928), The Grand Gesture is a witty satire of lobbyists seeking political control.

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9781472531186

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Reviews

[A] priceless piece of physical comedy ... Guardian A quick thumbs-up for the latest touring show from Northern Broadsides - a nifty Northern reworking, complete with brass-band accompaniment, of Gogol's A Government Inspector by Deborah McAndrew. Toffee-nosed civil servant ... plunges into the realm of corrupt local officialdom, to increasingly tangled - if ever more laboured - effect. He spends the whole time in the pub and pays for everything on expenses - he must be from the Government, runs one typically whip-sharp line. A hoot. Daily Telegraph on 'A Government Inspector' Nikolai Gogol's biting satire on the corruption in Tsarist Russian public life makes an effortless translation to a small modern day Pennine hill town . this campy, brassy update is very funny and very relevant ... a touch of Yorkshire Noir Independent on 'A Government Inspector' ... lively and immensely likeable. The Times ... sharp, sparky and slangy adaptation ... the laughter has not been lost in translation ... situations satisfyingly seesaw between gleeful absurdity and gut-wrenching gravity. Observer

A quick thumbs-up for the latest touring show from Northern Broadsides - a nifty Northern reworking, complete with brass-band accompaniment, of Gogol's A Government Inspector by Deborah McAndrew. Toffee-nosed civil servant ... plunges into the realm of corrupt local officialdom, to increasingly tangled - if ever more laboured - effect. He spends the whole time in the pub and pays for everything on expenses - he must be from the Government, runs one typically whip-sharp line. A hoot. Daily Telegraph on 'A Government Inspector' Nikolai Gogol's biting satire on the corruption in Tsarist Russian public life makes an effortless translation to a small modern day Pennine hill town . this campy, brassy update is very funny and very relevant ... a touch of Yorkshire Noir Independent on 'A Government Inspector' ... lively and immensely likeable. The Times [A] priceless piece of physical comedy ... Guardian ... sharp, sparky and slangy adaptation ... the laughter has not been lost in translation ... situations satisfyingly seesaw between gleeful absurdity and gut-wrenching gravity. Observer

A quick thumbs-up for the latest touring show from Northern Broadsides - a nifty Northern reworking, complete with brass-band accompaniment, of Gogol's A Government Inspector by Deborah McAndrew. Toffee-nosed civil servant ... plunges into the realm of corrupt local officialdom, to increasingly tangled - if ever more laboured - effect. He spends the whole time in the pub and pays for everything on expenses - he must be from the Government, runs one typically whip-sharp line. A hoot. Daily Telegraph on 'A Government Inspector' Nikolai Gogol's biting satire on the corruption in Tsarist Russian public life makes an effortless translation to a small modern day Pennine hill town ... this campy, brassy update is very funny and very relevant ... a touch of Yorkshire Noir Independent on 'A Government Inspector'

Author Information

Deborah McAndrew’s first break as a writer came in 2004 when Northern Broadsides produced her adaptation of The Bells by Leopold Lewis. Deborah's adaptation of Oliver Twist (directed by Josette Bushell-Mingo) played at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton as their 2009/10 Christmas show. Her play, Flamingoland, is published by Nick Hern Books and her adaptation of Gogol’s A Government Inspector is published by Methuen Drama.

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