Silly Cow
by Ben Elton

Venue: The Forum Studio Theatre

Silly Cow, by Ben Elton, is a slick, razor-tongued modern satire on the viciousness of tabloid journalism with an ingeniously dramatic dénouement. Doris is a newspaper columnist and reviewer with a talent for caustic insults and career assassination. She is being sued by the actress Trudi Hobson, after writing an article which savaged the respected thespian with accusations of small talent and large thighs. The queen of spleen isn't worried: she's got a job offer, a plan for a television show, and the cleavage to help the judge see things her way. But she's about to discover that even journalists can't escape reaping what they have sown, and that there's nothing quite as dramatic as an actress's revenge. Silly Cow was first presented in 1991 at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London. Elton aimed to shock in the pre-Labour nineties and lines are cutting - "with all that make-up on she looked like a witch with psoriasis". The plot's pace increases rapidly and the sudden wicked twists and turns will have you guessing right up to the end.

Cast

Doris - Jo Lloyd
Sidney - Simon Phillips
Peggy - Sally Dillon
Douglas - Mike Jenkinson-Deakin
Eduardo - Sam Thompson

Production team

Director: Simon Phillips