If you are looking for the hottest ticket in town, the sold-out play of the year, albeit in a very small theatre (the King’s Head in Islington), or a vicious, no-nonsense send-up of Britain’s modern-day ruling class, Who’s The Daddy? is on its way to be proclaimed as the most controversial new play of the year.

The play has had the King’s Head Theatre full for its entire run and a move to a west-end venue is in the pipeline. Taking its leaf out of TV, the play seemed to have been able to re-invent itself and do what TV used to do best: the political satire.

Cue Who’s The Daddy?, a fictional recreation of the events that took place at the sometimes called ‘The Sextator’ (real name, The Spectator, Boris Johnson editor) the most talked-about magazine of the decade as one scandal after another lit up the tabloid front pages, starting with Rod Liddle’s affair with the magazine’s 23-year-old receptionist and culminating with the resignation of Home Secretary supremo, David Blunkett. Also involving Petronella Wyatt, Rod Liddle, Kimberly Quinn and MP for Henley-on-Thames extraordinaire, Boris Johnson.

I have to confess that I can’t wait for Will Smith to walk into my office to study all my moves for his subsequent blockbuster about your very own CEN Mag. Sadly, there will not be any sleazy details written about me or the magazine, as yours truly, has no known - hum - vices.

But who knows, as you get older, with money and intellect showering your face, your values might change. And, that is exactly what the play is about: class and shifting values. From Shakespeare, to Wilde, to Lenny Henry, the class struggle always got the laugh and in the 21st century, guess what? It still does.

It took some doing, or rather methodology. Follow me:

Act 1
The finest team of writers in town, at the moment anyway, was assembled. A team of sharp pens made of theatre critics of ‘The Spectator’, Toby Young and Lloyd Evans, with additional material provided by Jeremy Lloyd, the co-creator of Are You Being Served? and ‘Allo ‘Allo…, the pinnacle of street & TV credibility, I agree with you.

Act 2
The next move was to base their bedroom farce loosely on real events and make sure that scantily-clad women and trouserless men dash in and out of cupboards. Some like Boris Johnson might even say that their rendition of the events is an “inverted pyramid of piffle”, but this is another debate and as often in those cases, reality supersedes fiction.

Act 3
Put together a serious cast of solid actors- Tim Hudson (Boris Johnson), Sara Crowe (Petronella Wyatt), Saul Reichlin (Michael Howard), Paul Prescott (David Blunkett), with a penchant for comedy, but not too much as ex-eastender Michelle Ryan (Tiffany the mole) is brought in as the male(s) interest.

Act 4
Hire director Tamara Harvey (One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest), producer Ian Osborne (How to Lose Friends & Alienate People) and Nica Burns (Some Girls) in the hope that the tiny King’s Head will sustain the assault of a crowd shredded to pieces by their own laughter. You get me?

As a conclusion, we will all agree that if sex is still a short-cut to rise above your station, a good laugh is still the best way for a producer to laugh all the way to the bank. Show Me The Money, sorry Who’s the Daddy at a bigger theatre near you, soon.

For further information on the play, please browse www.whosthedaddyplay.com
Nica Burns and Ian Osborne present

WHO’S THE DADDY?
By Toby Young and Lloyd Evans
with additional material
by Jeremy Lloyd
Hair and Wigs Designer
Richard Mawbey
Composer and Sound Designer
Matt Clifford
Lighting Designer
Chris Davey
Designer
Christopher Woods
Director
Tamara Harvey

Cast
Paul Prescott, Saul Reichun, Michelle Ryan, Caludia Shear, Sara Crowe, Jot Davies, Peter Hamilton Dyer

King’s Head Theatre
115 Upper Street
Islington, N1

Tuesday - Saturday 8pm
Saturday 3.00pm and Sunday 3.30pm
Box Office 020 7226 1916