Simon Russell Beale

In Georgian London, no one is more famous than Samuel Foote. Satirist, impressionist and dangerous comedian, he has become a celebrity in a city, and at the moment in time, when the concept of selling personality was born. He even has the ear of the king.

Adored by many, despised by some, Foote finds himself at the sharp end of attacks from the press...and a surgeon’s knife. And in an age obsessed with fame, his colleagues from the worlds of science and the stage – from Benjamin Franklin to David Garrick – begin to wonder: does fame make you mad?

The cast includes Dervla Kirwan (Peg Woffington), Joseph Millson (David Garrick), Micah Balfour (Frank Barber), Jenny Galloway (Mrs Garner), Ian Kelly (Prince George), Forbes Masson (John Hunter), Colin Stinton (Benjamin Franklin / Charles Macklin), Sophie Bleasdale (Miss Chudleigh) and Joshua Elliott (Hallam).