Well, I thought my postal route was cursed (have you tried delivering fan mail to a revolving cast of Hamlet understudies?), but this one takes the biscuit!
From the stage door of LAMDA to the plague-ridden corridors of a fantasy kingdom, rising star Rachael Dowsett is making quite the entrance with her brand-new solo comedy Please Shoot the Messenger, coming in hot to The Hope Theatre this August. And yes, my dears – she’s not just acting, she’s acting.
Playing as part of Camden Fringe for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it 3-night run (13–15 August), this bold and bonkers romp is one part Shakespearean farce, one part medieval meltdown, and ALL parts hilarious.
The premise? A kingdom in crisis, a cursed job opening, and one messenger who really wishes there’d been a LinkedIn warning. Rachael Dowsett plays the unfortunate soul handed a royal mission (deliver the cure, save the kingdom, try not to die) – which would be fine, except every previous messenger has ended up… well…….
What follows is a riot of physical comedy, surreal characters, and a script sharper than a poisoned quill. There are plague doctors, misbehaving monarchs, and even a surprise appearance or two from the Bard’s back catalogue.
It’s a proper showcase for Dowsett’s comic chops, mixing clowning, chaos, and that rare theatrical magic where you actually laugh out loud instead of just exhaling through your nose politely. And under all the madness, there’s a nugget of heart: a story about proving your worth, keeping the faith, and delivering more than just the message (or the potion).
So, if you fancy a night where the stakes are high, the giggles are plentiful, and the lead doesn’t break a sweat doing twenty roles in under an hour, you know where to be.
📍 The Hope Theatre, 13–15 August, 7pm sharp.
🎟️ Grab your tickets now via The Hope Theatre website – or risk missing the message entirely.
See you there – I’ll be the one in the audience with a quill, a notebook, and hopefully not a plague mask.
With love (and post),
Grace Hatchell
Theatre Village’s resident messenger of mischief 💌
https://www.thehopetheatre.com/pleaseshootthemessenger
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