CAST OF THE HYPOCRITE RETURN FOR A CHARITY

The full cast of The Hypocrite will return to Hull Truck Theatre on Sunday 23 June, along with Writer Richard Bean and Director Phillip Breen, to give a reading of the play in memory of Musical Director Paul Frankish.

The play will be read by the cast, with script in hand, to commemorate Hull-born Paul, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Paul was a talented musician, conductor, composer and teacher, whose West End credits include Wicked, but who also worked with organisations, artists and young people across our region, including Hull Truck Theatre, She Productions, Northern Academy of Performing Arts, Hull Philharmonic Orchestra and many more. He worked as Rehearsal Musical Director on The Hypocrite.

Tickets cost £17.50 and all proceeds from the reading will go to support Paul’s family.

The Hypocrite was originally produced by Hull Truck Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company as part of Hull UK City of Culture 2017 and played to sell out audiences in both Hull and Stratford-upon-Avon. The hugely popular production received rave reviews from the national press, including:
‘an extraordinarily vibrant, hugely enjoyable and riotously funny historical romp’ ««««« The I

‘raucous comedy does Hull proud’ «««« The Guardian
‘bawdy, witty, often flagrantly silly love-letter to Hull’ «««« The Telegraph

Cast members Mark Addy (Game of Thrones, The Full Monty) and Caroline Quentin (Men Behaving Badly, Jonathan Creek) will be returning to read their roles as Sir John and Lady Sarah Hotham.

“Paul Frankish was a brilliant MD, a patient, kind teacher and gentle man – more than that, he was our friend. His passing shocked and saddened all of us, and it took next to no time for us to decide to do something in his memory.

Making The Hypocrite in Hull at Truck for the City of Culture was a huge thrill for us all, we all had a fantastic time, so it seemed a very obvious thing to do to celebrate Paul’s life. To read this funny, big hearted, play with music; a love letter to Hull, where he lived and worked. We really hope you can come down and support this event – have a good laugh, a bit of a sing along, and to remember this kind, talented man. It’s a one-off special version of The Hypocrite, all the cast, all the brilliant jokes, and a few new ones thrown in for good measure, but done very informally with scripts in hand. 

On behalf of The Hypocrite company, I’d especially like to thank Mark Babych, Janthi Mills Ward and all at Truck for making the evening possible.”

Phillip Breen, Director of The Hypocrite

The Hypocrite

April 1642. Sir John Hotham, Governor of Hull, Member for Beverley and owner of most of East Yorkshire is charged by Parliament to secure the arsenal at Hull and deny entry to King Charles I.

If only it were that simple. With a Royalist siege outside the city walls and the rebellion of the mob within, Civil War seems inevitable and losing his head more than probable. And that’s to say nothing of his problems at home – a lovesick daughter, a ghost obsessed with the chinaware, sexually arousing furniture and a wife intent on escape.

Caught between two choices, Honour and Advantage, we join Sir John on frankly the worst day of his life.

A riotous comedy from award-winning Hull playwright Richard Bean (One Man, Two Guvnors), starring Mark Addy (Game of Thrones, The Full Monty) and Caroline Quentin (Men Behaving Badly, Jonathan Creek) as Sir John and Lady Sarah Hotham.