Political comedy Posh comes to the Playhouse

Drawing inspiration from Oxford University’s elitist Bullingdon Club, which counts David Cameron, George Osborne and Boris Johnson amongst its former members, Posh is a hilarious and razor-sharp look at the connections between privilege and politics.

After a series of unfavourable press articles forced them to lay low, the ten members of The Riot Club have reunited in a country gastro pub with the aim of getting totally ‘chateaued’. But as the evening progresses and the drink flows, things get disastrously out of hand with the dark side of wealth and excess becoming brutally exposed.

Laura Wade’s highly acclaimed play brings into focus the sense of entitlement amongst members of the ruling classes, highlighting what Boris Johnson himself described as “superhuman arrogance, toffishness and twitishness.”

Posh opened at the Royal Court in London in 2010 before transferring to the West End two years later. Laura Wade also adapted it for the 2014 film The Riot Club.

She said: “I'm delighted that Nottingham and Salisbury Playhouses are producing the regional premiere of Posh.

“No doubt class, privilege and power will continue to be big issues this year, and I look forward to the debate continuing in the theatre foyer.

“It's great that a whole new audience will get to peek behind the door into the heady world of the Riot Club.”

Posh has an all-female creative team and is directed by Susannah Tresilian, designed by Ellan Parry, with sound by Isobel Waller-Bridge, who has composed a specially commissioned requiem for the production, and lighting by Alexandra Stafford-Marshall.