DEATH OF A COMEDIAN

DEATH OF A COMEDIAN
LYRIC THEATRE, THE ABBEY THEATRE AND SOHO THEATRE PRESENT
THE NEW PLAY BY OWEN McCAFFERTY
7 FEB - 1 MAR
WORLD
PREMIERE
PRINCIPAL FUNDER

“Every night you’re going out trying to
find the one-time deal. Every night you’re
trying to find a room, an event that will
never happen again. You want people to
leave that room feeling like they’ve not
seen a joke teller, but that they’ve seen a
comedian. That they’ve seen something
happen in that room that nobody else is
going to see”
“Stand-up comedy is a personality disorder
that you can do for a living”
Jimmy Carr
Chris Addison

LYRIC THEATRE, THE ABBEY THEATRE AND SOHO THEATRE PRESENT
DEATH OF A
COMEDIAN
BY OWEN McCAFFERTY
7 FEBRUARY – 1 MARCH 2015
Meet Steve Johnston. He’s always wrestling with compromise.
He’s constantly under the spotlight. He’s a stand-up comedian.
DIRECTOR STEVE MARMION
SET & COSTUME DESIGNER MICHAEL VALE
LIGHTING DESIGNER BEN ORMEROD
SOUND DESIGNER TOM MILLS
PREVIEWS: FEBRUARY 7, 8 & 10
SEE WWW.LYRICTHEATRE.CO.UK
FOR FULL PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
PRICES
PREVIEWS AND SELECTED MATINEES £15
OFF-PEAK (TUES & WEDS 7.45PM AND ALL OTHER MATINEES) £20
PEAK (THURS – SAT 7.45PM) £24.50
CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE
WEDS 25 FEB 7.45PM
AUDIO-DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE
THURS 26 FEB 7.45PM
CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE
As his career takes off, the stages get bigger. As he is thrust into the
limelight, his choices prove costly.
Will he get everything he wants – the fame, the money and the girl –
or will he lose it all
Death of a Comedian is the eagerly-awaited new play by Belfast-born
Owen McCafferty (Quietly, Scenes from the Big Picture) which has
its world premiere at the Lyric Theatre before moving to Dublin and
London.
A powerful and deliciously dark comic story about the price of success
in the world of stand-up comedy, Death of a Comedian is directed by
Steve Marmion and stars Brian Doherty, Katie McGuinness and Shaun
Dingwall. Written by one of Northern Ireland’s greatest playwrights, it
is Owen McCafferty’s first play since becoming Artist in Residence of
the Lyric Theatre.
PRINCIPAL FUNDER
BOX OFFICE / 028 9038 1081
ONLINE / WWW.LYRICTHEATRE.CO.UK
IN PERSON / 55 RIDGEWAY STREET
BELFAST BT9 5FB
AN ABBEY THEATRE COMMISSION, AND A CO-PRODUCTION BETWEEN THE
LYRIC THEATRE, THE ABBEY THEATRE AND SOHO THEATRE.
#DEATHOFACOMEDIAN

“If you are who you are on stage people
pay attention. The only time anyone really
ever heckled me was my very first time on
stage. They said, “Go back to your real job”
or something, and I just said, “I’m sorry, this
is my first time on stage and I don’t know
how to respond to a heckle yet. Could you
please come back and heckle me when I’m
more experienced” I was always armed
with nothing. I go in armed with nothing
and hope to come out alive”
“No comedian wants to have to analyze
and defend something. It’s like, you thought
something was funny; you wrote it down;
you acted it out; you talked to people. You
know It works or it doesn’t work. I’m not a
politician. I’m not a thinker. I’m a comedian”
Chris Rock
Rita Rudner

“McCAFFERTY’S ABILITY TO SHOW NOT JUST THE WAY
INDIVIDUAL LIVES INTERSECT, BUT THE COLLISION OF
PRIVATE AND PUBLIC WORLDS, IS STRIKING”
THE GUARDIAN
“McCAFFERTY IS A WRITER WORTH STAYING LOYAL TO”
TIME OUT
“NEW IRISH WRITING IS ALIVE AND WELL IN THE HANDS
OF OWEN McCAFFERTY”
CITY TRIBUNE
The opinions quoted in this booklet are about stand-up comedy in general,
and should not be taken as endorsements of Death of a Comedian