GLOBE THEATRE’S HAMLET AND EDINBURGH COMEDY AWARD NOMINEE GEORGE FOURACRES STARS AS THE ‘ONE MAN’

“these intricately crafted, flawlessly performed numbers will have you howling with laughter one minute, wiping away a tear the next”
Rupert Hawksley, The Telegraph ★★★★

Critically-acclaimed musical comedy duo Flo & Joan have revealed the cast and director for their highly anticipated return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024 and brand-new show ‘One-Man Musical’, marking their debut musical.

George Fouracres (Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee, Hamlet at The Globe, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared Channel 4, Mates In Chelsea at Royal Court), will take the role of the titular ‘One Man’ as the show’s solo lead, while Georgie Staight (Operation Mincemeat, Dawn French Is A Huge Tw*t, The Wizard of Oz) will direct this brand-new production.

‘One-Man Musical’ is the new, never-before witnessed one-man show about a renowned gentleman who you will know and recognise. Fans of maths and gender will notice some discrepancies here as the show features a star cast of one (man) supported by a full band (two musical comedians named Rosie and Nicola Dempsey, aka Flo & Joan), together they are set to give Fringe audiences a chance to see a maestro at work for the full festival run, which sees the award-winning duo debut an original musical in Edinburgh for the first time.

Further Information:

George Fouracres is an actor, writer and comedian from the Black Country and has been described as “a major star in the making” (Time Out) and “probably the finest comic Shakespearean working today” (Evening Standard). He is chiefly known for his work at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, where he played the title role in Hamlet, and lead roles in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest and The Comedy of Errors. He is the third member of sketch group Daphne, with Jason Forbes and Phil Wang. Daphne were nominated for the Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer in 2015. In 2019, he performed his debut stand-up hour, Gentlemon, at the Edinburgh Fringe, which was subsequently adapted for BBC Radio 4 in 2022, to critical acclaim. George has been a regular performer on BBC Radio 4 (Daphne Sounds Expensive, The Now Show, Clare in the Community, The Lenny Henry Show, Ross Noble’s Britain in Bits) and on TV he has played Charlie in Raised By Wolves (Channel 4), Henry Bloyd Smith in Pls Like (BBC Three), and Hugh Cabot in Whiskey Cavalier (ABC). He was the voice of Prince Harry in Spitting Image (Britbox) and cult favourites Grolton & Hovris in Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared (Channel 4).

Georgie Staight is a theatre director specialising in new work. She’s worked on large scale productions on the West End and venues across the UK. Previously, Georgie was joint Artistic Director of new writing company Flux Theatre and is an Associate Director at The Watermill. Recent directing credits include: ‘Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon’ in the West End and ‘The Wizard of Oz’, ‘Camp Albion’ & ‘A Christmas Carol’ at The Watermill.  Georgie is currently Associate Director on West End hit ‘Operation Mincemeat’ and ‘Dawn French is a Huge Tw*t’. Georgie has led youth and outreach programmes at The Watermill, Chichester Festival Theatre and Corn Exchange, and worked as a guest director at drama schools including Mountview, Royal Academy of Music and Oxford School of Drama.

As well as debuting their first ever musical, this Fringe also sees Flo & Joan also perform and star in a second show in the latter half of the Fringe with The Joan and Flo Show, a celebration of their greatest hits, crowd favourites, and new numbers combined.

The virtuoso pair Flo & Joan have recently starred in Richard Curtis’ Comic Relief (writing a song lampooning the BBC) as well as writing songs for Warner Bros and Radio Times (celebrating their centenary). They have previously written and performed songs for Live at the Apollo (BBC Two), The Royal Variety Performance (ITV1), Aardman, Horrible Histories (CBBC), and The Russell Howard Hour (Sky). Their hour-long comedy special ‘Alive on Stage’ (Amazon) released worldwide streaming in over 200 countries, and they have recently recorded a second comedy-special at the Royal Court Theatre with broadcaster and release date details to be revealed soon, while their songs regularly go viral online, having received over 75 million views to date.

One Man Musical

Written and composed by Flo & Joan (Nicola and Rosie Dempsey). Directed by Georgie Staight.
Cast headshots and poster image can be found on the dropbox link here.

CRITICAL PRAISE FOR FLO & JOAN:

“[they] briefly appear to be a jolly musical double act, but tear that to pieces about two bars into the first, perfectly timed song”
Steve Armstrong, Sunday Times ★★★★

“these intricately crafted, flawlessly performed numbers will have you howling with laughter one minute, wiping away a tear the next”
Rupert Hawksley, The Telegraph ★★★★

“packed with surprises and, pleasingly, the music performs as much of the comic work as the lyrics”
Brian Logan, The Guardian ★★★★

“It goes down a storm”
Dominic Maxwell, The Times ★★★★

“It’s the harmonies of Frankie Valli with the sensibilities of Frankie Boyle – and blew the canvas roof off… crowd-pleaser among crowd-pleaser.”
Steve Bennett, Chortle ★★★★

“a deliciously dark undertow to their comic songs. Sweet Release takes things to a devilish new level”
Sharon Lougher, Metro

“Musical comedy hasn’t been in such safe hands for years”
Brian Donaldson, The List

“endlessly charming, catchy, and bloody brilliant”
Kayleigh Dray, Stylist

“Their style is stiletto sharp, their diction perfect as they race through their complex rhymes”
Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard

“one of the best hours you’re likely to see at this year’s Fringe”
Ross Crae, Sunday Post ★★★★★

“The show is a feast of memorable songs… Flo & Joan are undoubtedly the real thing.”
Jane Darcy, The Reviews Hub ★★★★

 “a cult following… witty, rapid and dense”
Chris Omaweng, LondonTheatre1 ★★★★

LISTINGS INFORMATION:
One-Man Musical
Venue:                  Pleasance Dome, Queen Dome
Date & Time:        31st July – 25th August at 7.00pm
Duration:               60 min
Web:                     floandjoan.com

Flo & Joan: The Joan & Flo Show
Venue:                  Assembly George Square Studios, Studio Three
Date & Time:        12th – 25th August at 14:55
Duration:               60 min
Web:                     floandjoan.com

For more information please contact: Florrie Sheehan at [email protected] or 0207 598 7222