{"id":6992,"date":"2014-03-27T17:25:49","date_gmt":"2014-03-27T16:25:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=6992"},"modified":"2014-03-27T17:25:49","modified_gmt":"2014-03-27T16:25:49","slug":"the-courtyard-theatre-presents-tea-with-the-old-queen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2014\/03\/the-courtyard-theatre-presents-tea-with-the-old-queen\/","title":{"rendered":"The Courtyard Theatre presents Tea with the Old Queen"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>The Courtyard Theatre presents Tea with the Old Queen, the fictional diaries of Backstairs Billy, by Graham Woolnough on Friday 11 April.<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Tea-With-The-Old-Queen-pic.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-6993\" title=\"Tea With The Old Queen pic\" src=\"http:\/\/www.whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Tea-With-The-Old-Queen-pic.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"336\" height=\"412\" \/><\/a>This superb and hilarious one man show starring Ian Stark, is based upon the fictitious \u2018secret\u2019 diaries of \u2018old queen\u2019 William Tallon, one time Steward and Page of the Backstairs to HRH Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.<\/p>\n<p>During 40 years of service Billy, with discretion and diplomacy tidied up every little Royal mishap. He played Dame in the Christmas Panto, danced with \u2018Her Maj\u2019 and even sprayed air freshener whenever Prince Philip \u2018let one off\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>We hear all the secrets \u2013 Princess Anne refusing to stop smoking indoors \u2013 even after the fire at Windsor, \u2018Her Maj\u2019 welcoming Chinese Ambassadors Mr Woo and Mr Wang, and the visit by Tony and Cherie Blair when a salt shaker went missing!<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCheeky. That&#8217;s the one word I would use to describe Tea With the Old Queen, a lively, irreverent, sometimes naughty, often hilarious look at the royal family through the eyes of a loyal servant, William.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>FringeGuru **** review (September 2013)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGraham Woolnough&#8217;s lusciously bizarre backstage peek at the lives of royalty is a theatrical treat for those with any political disposition. In a speedy 50 minutes, Ian Stark&#8217;s Backstage Billy pinpoints the highs and lows of a career serving the Queen Mother. Stark encapsulates the batty upper-class with bracing energy and comic intelligence, all the while never undermining an adorable and very real sense of satisfaction he received from a career spanning 40 years in service.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Broadway Baby **** review (September 2013)<\/p>\n<p>Ticket prices to see <em>Tea With the Old Queen<\/em> at The Courtyard Theatre on Friday 11 April 2014 at 8pm are \u00a312, and \u00a310 concession. Book online at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecourtyardtheatre.com\">www.thecourtyardtheatre.com<\/a> or phone Box Office on 028 9034 0217.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Courtyard Theatre presents Tea with the Old Queen, the fictional diaries of Backstairs Billy, by Graham Woolnough on Friday 11 April. This superb and hilarious one man show starring Ian Stark, is based upon the fictitious \u2018secret\u2019 diaries of \u2018old queen\u2019 William Tallon, one time Steward and Page of the Backstairs to HRH Queen &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2014\/03\/the-courtyard-theatre-presents-tea-with-the-old-queen\/\">Continued<\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6992"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6992"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6994,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6992\/revisions\/6994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}