Mr Foote's Other Leg
Published on 17. September 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
144 pages
978-1-84842-507-1 (ISBN)
Description
In Georgian London no one is more famous than Samuel Foote. Satirist, impressionist and dangerous comedian, friend of David Garrick and Dr Johnson, he is a bona fide celebrity in an age obsessed with fame. He even has the ear of the King.
But when Foote finds himself at the centre of a media storm - and under the surgeon's knife - there's only one question on everyone's lips: does fame make you mad?
Based on Ian Kelly's award-winning biography, Mr Foote's Other Leg is a riotously funny play exploring our obsession with celebrities, through the true story of the Oscar Wilde of the eighteenth century. It premiered at Hampstead Theatre in September 2015, in a production directed by Richard Eyre and featuring Simon Russell Beale as Foote.
'Written with panache and wit - as lively and entertaining a historical biography as you are ever likely to read' Sunday Times on Ian Kelly's biography of Samuel Foote
But when Foote finds himself at the centre of a media storm - and under the surgeon's knife - there's only one question on everyone's lips: does fame make you mad?
Based on Ian Kelly's award-winning biography, Mr Foote's Other Leg is a riotously funny play exploring our obsession with celebrities, through the true story of the Oscar Wilde of the eighteenth century. It premiered at Hampstead Theatre in September 2015, in a production directed by Richard Eyre and featuring Simon Russell Beale as Foote.
'Written with panache and wit - as lively and entertaining a historical biography as you are ever likely to read' Sunday Times on Ian Kelly's biography of Samuel Foote
Reviews / Votes
'Delightful... the wit starts flowing from the first scene' * Telegraph * 'A ripely entertaining portrait of an eccentric, forgotten celebrity and the scandalous allure of the stage' * Evening Standard * 'Witty and engaging... perceptive and humane, capable of moments of real tenderness, a celebration of the strange electricity of theatre' * The Stage * 'Very, very funny... for a play with so many laughs, it also brims with insight and fascinating observations about culture and politics, both personal and public' * BritishTheatre.com *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-84842-507-1 (9781848425071)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Ian Kelly is an actor and writer. He has written several historical biographies, including Casanova (Sunday Times Biography of the Year, 2008), Mr Foote's Other Leg; Comedy, Tragedy and Murder in Georgian London (Winner, Theatre Book of the Year, 2013), Beau Brummell (shortlisted for the Marsh Commonwealth Biography Prize), Cooking for Kings, A Life of Antonin Careme (Radio 4 Book of the Week), and the life of Vivienne Westwood, co-written with Dame Vivienne.
As a dramatist, Ian's stage adaptation of Mr Foote's Other Leg was premiered at Hampstead Theatre in 2015 in a production directed by Richard Eyre starring Simon Russell Beale, and his adaptation of the Careme biography Cooking for Kings ran Off-Broadway in 2004 and 2006. Beau Brummell was adapted as a BBC film with Simon Bent, starring Hugh Bonneville and James Purefoy.
As an actor, film work includes Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I and Part II as Hermione's father, Howards End, Creation, In Love and War, Closed and the Russian films Admiral Kolchak and Alexei Balabanov's War (Best Actor Nomination, Montreal Film Festival).
Theatre work includes The Pitmen Painters (National Theatre, Broadway, West End and Newcastle Live; Performance of the Year, NE Culture Awards), A Busy Day (West End, Bristol Old Vic), Arcadia (Manchester), Cooking for Kings and Beau Brummell (US premieres, Off-Broadway), Henry V and Twelfth Night with the English Shakespeare Company and seasons with, amongst others, Theatr Clwyd and Salisbury Playhouse.
Television work includes Downton Abbey, Sensitive Skin, In a Land of Plenty, Cold Lazarus, Silent Witness, Drop the Dead Donkey, Time Trumpet, Catherine Cookson's The Moth, Just William and Underworld.
As a dramatist, Ian's stage adaptation of Mr Foote's Other Leg was premiered at Hampstead Theatre in 2015 in a production directed by Richard Eyre starring Simon Russell Beale, and his adaptation of the Careme biography Cooking for Kings ran Off-Broadway in 2004 and 2006. Beau Brummell was adapted as a BBC film with Simon Bent, starring Hugh Bonneville and James Purefoy.
As an actor, film work includes Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I and Part II as Hermione's father, Howards End, Creation, In Love and War, Closed and the Russian films Admiral Kolchak and Alexei Balabanov's War (Best Actor Nomination, Montreal Film Festival).
Theatre work includes The Pitmen Painters (National Theatre, Broadway, West End and Newcastle Live; Performance of the Year, NE Culture Awards), A Busy Day (West End, Bristol Old Vic), Arcadia (Manchester), Cooking for Kings and Beau Brummell (US premieres, Off-Broadway), Henry V and Twelfth Night with the English Shakespeare Company and seasons with, amongst others, Theatr Clwyd and Salisbury Playhouse.
Television work includes Downton Abbey, Sensitive Skin, In a Land of Plenty, Cold Lazarus, Silent Witness, Drop the Dead Donkey, Time Trumpet, Catherine Cookson's The Moth, Just William and Underworld.