I’m Sorry, Prime Minister, I Can’t Quite Remember to make world premiere at The Barn Theatre

I’m Sorry, Prime Minister, I Can’t Quite Remember will make its world premiere at The Barn Theatre this autumn.

Written and directed by Jonathan Lynn, the Cirencester venue will present the piece from 25 September – 4 November 2023.

It is the final chapter in the Yes, Prime Minister series featuring the characters Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey Appleby, created by Lynn and late writing partner Antony Jay who sadly passed away in 2016.

Jonathan Lynn will play ex-Prime Minister Jim Hacker and Clive Francis will play his former Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby. They are joined by Michaela Bennison who will play Hacker’s carer Sophie and Christopher Bianchi as High Court judge Sir David Knell.

Holed up in his new home at Hacker College, Oxford, Jim finds himself, as ever, in the midst of a set of problems mainly of his own making. Unsure of how to cope, he calls on his old and not so loyal Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby.

What ensues carries all the hallmark comedy of this classic partnership as well as being a touching portrait of two old sparring partners trying desperately to figure out the modern world and work out what their place is in it. In doing so they discover friendship and empathy as well as learning a few hard lessons about life.

Jonathan Lynn said: “I wanted to write the final chapter about Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey Appleby, now in their 80s, discarded, ignored, watching today’s world with utter bewilderment. An elegiac play about old age and loss – loss of power, loss of influence, loss of friends, loss of family. The only play I’ve ever seen on this theme is King Lear. This will be funnier.”

Yes Minister first ran on TV for three series on BBC Two from 1980 to 1984. A sequel, Yes, Prime Minister, ran for 16 episodes from 1986 to 1988. A hugely successful stage play entitled Yes, Prime Minister was premiered at Chichester Festival Theatre in May 2010. The production transferred to the West End where it played at three different theatres and also toured the UK twice to great acclaim.

Following its run at the Barn Theatre, the show will tour to Theatre Royal Bath (14 – 18 November) and Cambridge Arts Theatre (21 – 25 November).

For more information and tickets, visit barntheatre.org.uk