Handbagged Tickets

Full casting has been announced for the London revival of Moira Buffini’s critically acclaimed Handbagged, which opens at the Kiln Theatre this September.

As previously announced, Marion Bailey and Kate Fahy will reprise their roles of ‘Q’, an Older Queen Elizabeth II and ‘T’, an Older Margaret Thatcher. They are joined by Romayne Andrews (Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Mischief Theatre; Breeders tv series), Richard Cant (The Normal Heart, Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear, all at theNational Theatre), Abigail Cruttenden (Afterlife, Flight  at the National Theatre) and Naomi Frederick (The Book of Dust – La Belle Sauvage; Bridge Theatre).

Indhu Rubasingham directs the timely return of Moira Buffini’s wickedly funny hit-comedy that imagines what the world’s most powerful women Margaret Thatcher and Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II, talked about behind closed palace doors.

The original production premiered at the Kiln Theatre (formerly Tricycle Theatre) in 2013 before moving to the West End’s Vaudeville Theatre in 2014, followed by a UK tour in 2015 and performances in New York and Washington in 2019.

Handbagged runs from 9 September 2022 until 22 October 2022 at the Kiln Theatre, London.

Marion Bailey, one of the leading ladies of Handbagged at the Vaudeville Theatre, attended the premiere of her new film Mr. Turner in Cannes yesterday.

The actress is currently playing the Queen in the comedy Handbagged in the West End alongside Stella Gonet as Margaret Thatcher.

Moira Buffini’s acclaimed comedy Handbagged, which enjoyed a sell-out run at the Tricycle Theatre before moving into the West End, speculates on what the two most powerful women in the world, The Queen and Margarat Thatcher, talked about behind closed palace doors and features actresses playing both the younger and old Queen and Thatcher.

Marion is also starring in Mike Leigh’s new movie Mr Turner, a biopic about the British painter JMW Turner starring Timothy Spall. Bailey plays twice-widowed seaside landlady Sophia Booth (Marion Bailey), who eventually becomes Turner’s last mistress.

Bailey has worked with Leigh before, including his movie Vera Drake and Mike Leigh’s Grief at the National Theatre in 2011 and 2012. Her extensive stage credits include working at Chichester, the Bristol Old Vic, the West Yorkshire Playhouse, the Royal Court, the Old Vic and Hampstead Theatre.

Handbagged is booking until 2 August 2014 at the Vaudeville Theatre.

Mr. Turner by Mike Leigh is set for release in UK cinemas on 31 October 2014.

The Cannes Film Festival runs until the 25 May 2014.