Aine Flanagan

Freelance Theatre Producer

Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho

  • MagThatcher_drag_highres-7

    ‘Glorious camp with political punch’ ★★★★ ­ Times.

    ‘Comic perfection’ ★★★★★ ­ So So Gay

    ‘Less than respectful’ ­ Daily Telegraph

    ‘A rollicking good laugh, no matter what side of the political spectrum you sit on’ ★★★★★ ­ Attitude

    Following two sell­out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe and London’s Leicester Square Theatre, the critically acclaimed Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho toured the UK and traveled to the Adelaide Cabaret Festival then finished its UK tour at the infamous Udderbelly venue on London’s Southbank.

    On the eve of the vote on Section 28 Maggie gets lost in London’s decadent Soho and accidentally becomes a cabaret superstar, but will she change her mind about the homophobic bill before it’s too late…?

    Performer and co­writer, Matt Tedford (‘the best Mrs Thatcher since Spitting Image’s Steve Nallon’ ­- Arthur Smith), is pulling on the tights once more to give audiences an insight into the difference an individual could have made with a sideswipe at homophobia and censorship. Co-written and directed by Jon Brittain, this delightful odyssey about gay rights, the 80’s and disco has received rave reviews across the board and won huge acclaim after playing to an audience of over 15,000 during two completely sold­ out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2014 & 2015, two sold­ out runs at the Leicester Square Theatre (March & December 2015), a full run at Theatre503 (Battersea, London) in 2013 plus inclusion in the ThatcherWrite festival, also in 2013.

    Since the Queen of Soho’s debut in 2013, the show has won both the Brighton Argus Angel for Artistic Excellence (Brighton Fringe) and Micheál Mac Liammóir Award for Best Male Performance (Dublin International Gay Theatre Festival) for Matt Tedford plus has been nominated for the Most Promising Writer (Off West End Awards). Maggie’s sequel show Margaret Thatcher Queen of Game Shows was launched at this years Edinburgh Fringe Festival to rave reviews and sell out audiences.

  • Maggie Thatcher Queen of Soho_Image by Mihaela Bodlovic_32

    Writer/Director: Jon Brittain
    Jon is an award-winning playwright, comedy writer and director. He was one of the503Five 2012/2013. His plays include TheWake, The Sexual Awakening of PeterMayo and My Imaginary Friend Patrick Stewart. He has written for Radio 4’s The Now Show, Cartoon Network’s The Amazing World of Gumball and created and starred in the online sketch show Hodge Podge.

    He directed both of John Kearns’s FostersAward-winning shows Sight Gags for Perverts and Shtick. He is currently writing a musical with composer Harry Blake, a sitcom with comedian Suzi Ruffell and a play all by himself.

    Margaret Thatcher/Writer: Matt Tedford
    Matt is an actor, comedian and writer. He studied Drama at the University of EastAnglia where he performed in several plays including Alfie, Angels in America and a regional tour of Noel Coward’s Private Lives. He co-wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho for which he won the award for Best Male Performance at the Dublin International Gay Theatre Festival and was nominated for an Off West End award for Most Promising Playwright. More recently he starred in and contributed material to online sketch show Hodge Podge. He is not a member of the Actors’ Studio.

    Co-Producer: Off the Kerb Productions
    Off the Kerb Productions is a talent agency, production company and the official home of the biggest names in comedy including Lee Evans, Jack Dee, Jonathan Ross, Alan Carr, Michael McIntyre, Phill Jupitus and many more. With over 30 years’ experience in the business their, internationally renowned artists have won numerous prestigious awards ranging from the BritishComedy Award to the coveted Edinburgh Comedy Award.

    Hessel: Nico Lennon
    Nico trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. Previous Theatre work includes The Final Revelation of Sherlock Holmes (Pleasance Theatre), The London Cuckolds (Pleasance Theatre), Present: Tense (Nabokov / Watford Palace), Comedy of Errors (Sell-a-Door / Greenwich Playhouse), The Ghost Train (LOST Theatre), Romeo & Juliet (Iris Theatre) and No Longer I (Old Vic/Public Theater NYC). He is an experienced voiceover artist and has provided voices for a wide variety of high profile TV and radio commercials, computer games and ADR. He is delighted to be slipping back into Hessell’s hotpants.

    Tine: Ed Yelland
    Ed studied Drama at the University of East Anglia. Whilst there he performed in various productions including Sweeney Todd, The Pillow Man, Tales from the Vienna Woods and Dealer’s Choice. He has since appeared in the Steven Spielberg movie War Horse, toured with A News Thought’s production of On the Line and performed in Happy to Help by Michael Ross at the Park Theatre, I Think I Am A Good Dog by Jon Brittain at the New Diorama, and Hole by Duncan Gates at Vault Festival 2015. He has also appeared in every version of Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho to date.

    Lighting Designer: Alex Fernandes
    Alex is a London-based lighting designer and production manager. He was awarded the 2013 MichaelNorthern Bursary from the Association of Lighting Designers. Alex has worked all over the UK with numerous live art and theatre companies such as Made In China, Christopher Brett Bailey, Sleepwalk Collective and Fergus Evans. He is also the Associate Technical Director of the Forest Fringe in Edinburgh.

    Sound Designer – Edward Lewis
    Edward studied Music at Oxford University and subsequently trained as a composer and sound designer at the Bournemouth Media School. He works in theatre, film, television and radio. He has been nominated for several Off West End Awards and films he worked on won awards at the LA International Film Festival and Filmstock International Film Festival. Recent theatre includes: Gravity (BirminghamRep Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Almeida); On TheRocks, Amongst Friends, Ignorance and Darker Shores (Hampstead Theatre); The Speed Twins, Slowly, Hurts, Given and Received and Apple Pie (Riverside Studios); Once Upon A Time in Wigan and 65 Miles (Paines Plough / Hull Truck Theatre); The Shallow End (Southwark Playhouse); The Beloved (The Bush) and The Stronger, The Pariah, Boy With A Suitcase, Walking The Tightrope and Le Marriage and Meetings (The Arcola).

    Assistant Director – Leonie Rae Gasson
    Leonieis a performance maker based in Glasgow. She is the Director in Residence for Produced Moon. Upcoming work includes In:Humanity at the Nuffield Laboratory, Southampton and HiddenDoor, Edinburgh. She directed Eden Gate at the Edinburgh Fringe 2014, which was shortlisted for the NSDF Emerging Artist Award. Other work includes Privates for Arches LIVE, Glasgow, which was called “vital, ground-breaking work” by The Herald.

  • There is currently no booking information available.