The legendary Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell is back where he belongs, at the Coach & Horses pub in Soho.
Over the next three Sundays and Mondays, he will he holding court in the person of Robert Bathurst – in a version of Keith Waterhouse’s play adapted and directed by James Hillier.
Where: Coach & Horses, Soho
When: Sun & Mon to 23 Mar, 7.30pm & 9.30pm
Ticket link: https://jeffreyplay.com/
I went in 2024 – read my 5* review here.
James answers some questions below!
Great to see Jeffrey Bernard back at the Coach & Horses! What made you develop it as a site-specific, immersive show?
I was approached in 2018 by the pub’s then landlord. I’ve staged a number of site-specific productions with my company, Defibrillator, so I had a clear sense of what you need to make this kind of show work and the problems you can run into.
The original play and production had supporting characters, but yours is for solo performance. Why did you make these changes?
Watching Peter O’Toole play Jeff at the Old Vic was a formative theatre experience for me. His effortless ability to move an audience from laughter to tears in a heartbeat was astonishing.
Even then, it struck me that although the supporting cast were brilliant and funny, they weren’t essential to telling this man’s story.
When I was first approached to stage the play at The Coach & Horses, the assumption was we would do it as it had been done before. I pushed back and approached the Keith Waterhouse estate for permission to adapt it into a one-man show.
As is often the case, the reasons were both artistic and practical: the intimacy of the setting makes one man speaking directly to us incredibly powerful, and the confined space and limited audience capacity make a larger cast difficult and uneconomic.
You’ve collaborated for several years now with Robert Bathurst, who plays Jeffrey so beautifully. What brought you together to work on this, and has the production changed over time because of his involvement?
We were incredibly lucky. We needed an actor who was passionate about the project and the play, but who also had the mettle to work in a one-off environment like this.
Robert is soaked in Soho lore, loves his racing, and is blessed with a rapier-like wit. An actor friend described his performance as “steel-toe-capped”, which brilliantly captures what he’s doing: navigating a crowded, unpredictable physical space, while being ready for the most unlikely, unforeseen circumstances. On every count, he was the perfect fit.
Working together over several years has been a pleasure, and it’s led to small, incremental changes in the text and staging. I always return to the production with excitement, because Robert’s portrayal of Jeffrey Bernard deepens and grows over time.
The Coach & Horses is such a great venue for this, but its layout makes staging the play a challenge! How did you overcome the limitations of the building?
No bells and whistles. We put it on its feet and went for it.
From day one, we decided Robert needed to feel completely at home in the space: to move when he likes, where he likes; to ask people to shift if he needs to (which happens regularly); and to put the audience at ease, knowing that whatever happens, this man… stuck in this pub, on this night… simply has to tell you his story.
And the reality is anything can happen. On press night of the opening production we had a member of the audience taken ill. Robert had to stop the show, took them outside, waited for an ambulance, then, when he re-entered, he bravely piped up: “Now, where were we?”
The audience loved it. That pretty much sums up the spirit of how we do it.
Why do you think this story of a rather inebriated Fleet Street journalist still appeals to audiences?
He’s a throwback. No doubt. But there is romance in knowing this man who had so much talent and such wit was unapologetic in how he wanted to live his life.
No gong baths and wellness retreats for Jeffrey Bernard. Loved and hated in equal measure, he lived his life the way he wanted to live it.
Without compromise. Even if, as we clearly see in the play, and as he knows all too well, it is leading to his ruin.