ELIZABETH AND RALEIGH: LATE BUT LIVE ★★★ - August 2008 Onstage Scotland - August 4th, 2008

The relationship between Sir Walter Raleigh and his questionably virgin queen has long been pondered upon, but this new play by Stewart Lee harbours no such pretensions. It is from the outset a larger-than-life, multi-media caricature of their supposed love story, turning it into a kind of lurid adult pantomime complete with Simon Munnery as…

ELIZABETH AND RALEIGH: LATE BUT LIVE ★★ - August 2008 Fringereview.co.uk - August 4th, 2008

Walter Raleigh, in a high state of excitement, believes his many achievements and discovery of the potato and tobacco, will win the hand of Queen Elizabeth. In this endeavour, he is sadly mistaken. Walter Jupp (sic) does the best with the material given, but his patter falls short. The play only picks up with the…

ELIZABETH AND RALEIGH: LATE BUT LIVE ★★ - August 2008 EdFest Magazine - By Neil Simpson - August 4th, 2008

Edinburgh is famous for its history and its comedy; Elizabeth and Raleigh provides both in a medley of cross-dressing, singing, and slideshows. At first we are welcomed by Sir Walter Raleigh (Miles Jupp), promoter of those two bastions of civilization; the potato and smoking. Raleigh’s opening monologue provides a brief overview of personal triumphs (through…

ELIZABETH AND RALEIGH: LATE BUT LIVE ★★ - August 2008 Youtube - By Dominic Maxwell - August 4th, 2008

ELIZABETH AND RALEIGH: LATE BUT LIVE ★★★ - August 2008 Chortle - By Steve Bennett - August 4th, 2008

Following last year’s triumphant Johnson and Boswell, full of virulent anti-Scottish jibes and knockabout stand-up, comes this rather disappointing sequel. This time around, Miles Jupp, who plays the elegantly arrogant Sir Walter Raleigh, and Simon Munnery, the aging queen, seem afraid to let slip they are having fun. The direction is stiffly formal, the language…

ELIZABETH AND RALEIGH: LATE BUT LIVE ★★ - August 2008 The British Theatre Guide - By Philip Fisher - August 4th, 2008

Stewart Lee’s latest venture feels like a work in progress, the impression hardly dispelled by a faulty sound system. Elizabeth (Simon Munnery) and Raleigh (Miles Jupp) looks at the two historical characters using the same techniques as last year’s more fluid and satisfying portrait of Johnson and Boswell. In this case, each of Mia Flodquist’s…