The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford will present the world premiere of PARTY GAMES! by Michael McManus from 2 May, before touring to Windsor, Cardiff, Worthing, Bath, and Malvern.

Directed by Joanna Read, PARTY GAMES! is written by a man who was on the inside of party politics, Michael McManus, who worked in Central Office while Margaret Thatcher and John Major were Prime Ministers and as a special adviser to a number of UK ministers between 1992 and 1995. He was then head of Ted Heath’s private office from 1995 to 2000 and the Conservative Party candidate for Watford in 2001.

PARTY GAMES! is set in the UK in 2026. John Waggner, newly elected leader of the hastily formed centrist One Nation Party, presides over a hung parliament, a discontented electorate and striking cheesemakers. He and his power-hungry MPs must cling onto authority through whatever shaky means possible. Can one man, a Svengali spin doctor, and some dodgy data unite the country? And what role can his wife, the King and a large spider play in keeping the lights on, not to mention his trusty AI?

PARTY GAMES! stars Matthew Cottle (The Windsors, Channel 4) as Prime Minister John Waggner, Debra Stephenson (Bad Girls; Coronation Street, ITV) as Deputy Leader Lisa Williams, Natalie Dunne (The Third Man, Menier Chocolate Factory) as Anne Waggner, the Prime Minister’s wife, Krissi Bohn (Coronation Street, ITV) as Private Secretary Candice Edwards, Jason Callender (The Play That Goes Wrong, West End) as would-be Chief of Staff Luke Roberts, and William Oxborrow (The Madness of George III, National Theatre) playing multiple roles.

PARTY GAMES! is designed by Francis O’Connor, with lighting by Chris Davey.

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