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Late But Live : Elizabeth & RaleighSimon is queen for a play in a fun take on history

By Marion Mcmullen in Coventry Telegraph Posted on Friday, October 3rd, 2008

PLAYING a drama queen is proving a right royal pain in the backside for Simon Munnery.

He puts on wigs, ruffs, makeup and elaborate costumes to transform himself into famous monarch Elizabeth I for comedy special Elizabeth & Raleigh – Late But Live.

The offering by Stewart Lee teams Simon with Miles Jupp, as Walter Raleigh, and promises potatoes, tobacco, Elizabethan dance, cross-dressing and xenophobia.

“I’ve played Elizabeth II before in an Arthur Smith show so I’ve had some experience,” declares Simon, “but there are problems playing Elizabeth I. Her costume is 4ft wide for a start and you have to go sideways through doors or you get stuck.

“You’ve also got to make sure you go to the loo beforehand because it’s impossible once the costume and everything else is on.

“It takes about half an hour to get ready and half an hour to take it all off after the show and Miles is no help at all when it comes to all the poppers and buttons. He just stands there laughing.”

The Elizabethan stand-up show is the latest venture for Simon, Miles and Solihull-born comedy favourite Stewart. Stewart’s script had Simon and Miles playing Johnson and Boswell last year and now their attention is turned to the Tudors.

“As luck would have it, I sound exactly like Queen Elizabeth I,” announces Simon, “so that part was easy. The show’s also changed a lot since we performed it at the Edinburgh Festival … it has got a new ending for a start.”

But bringing to life the Virgin Queen and old sea dog Raleigh has not been without its dangers. Some wonky scaffolding accidentally fell on to the front row during a performance in Wales –

“Luckily the Welsh audience don’t like to sit on the front row so the seat was empty,” – and a flying potato smashed one gentlemen’s pair of spectacles, but Simon reassuringly says all the teething problems have now been ironed out.

The tour heads to Coventry and Warwick Arts Centre next week and Simon says he knows the venue well from past dates there with his comedy creations such as The League Against Tedium and Alan Parker Urban Warrior. “I held a comedy writing workshop there one time as well,” he remembers.

The father-of-three has also appeared on TV in The Live Floor Show, The Stand-Up Show and Saturday Night Live and has a radio pilot, more writing and stand-up dates planned once he lays down Elizabeth I’s crown.

So is he now an expert on Britain’s famous queen? “I’ve read one book,” he admits, “and it says Elizabeth didn’t see a lot of Raleigh … I’ve been duped.”

Written by Marion Mcmullen in Coventry Telegraph on 3rd October 2008. Filed Under: Elizabeth & Raleigh, Interview, Late But Live
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