Over the last few years I’ve been developing what I call “The Cardboard Exotics” – two extremely silly comedy plays where all the props are made of cardboard. They’ve received some lovely reviews and audiences have responded very well to them.
Starting in 2017 and still going today is Cream Tea and Incest.
In 2019 I also toured my newest show, a Scooby Doo parody called Ricky Riddlegang and the Riddle Gang.
Cream Tea and Incest
Romance! Adventure! Murder! Aristocrat Eddie Spangler and valet Jeffrey must learn the meaning of these words and more in this new knockabout Edwardian comedy. Delight in their capers, mix-ups, and the dead bodies left in their wake.
We follow top toff Eddie Spangler and his unflappable valet, Jeffrey, as a simple matchmaking quest quickly deteriorates into a race against time when the Machiavellian forces of the aristocracy move to wreak their vengeance. Lord Wiggins is set to inherit Rhodesia upon his marriage to Emily Rhodes, but their romance is faltering. It is up to Eddie and Jeffrey to sort Wiggins out as quickly and violently as possible. Meanwhile – the evil Lord Biggins lurks in the shadows, waiting to execute dark schemes of his own…
★★★★★ – West-End Wilma
★★★★★ – Lexical Lunacy
★★★★★ – Dark Chat
★★★★ – Broadway Baby
★★★★ – Remote Goat
★★★★ – IThankYouTheatre
★★★★ – LondonTheatre1.com
★★★★ – Binge Fringe
★★★★ – Spy In The Stalls
★★★★ – EverythingTheatre
★★★★ – SecretReviewLDN
Highly Recommended Show – Fringe Review
_________
Most Recent Cast & Creatives:
Paula Gilmour as Eddie Spangler
Rosie Edwards as Jeffrey
Sassy Clyde as Wiggins
Rosalind Seal as Biggins
Directed by Benjamin Alborough
Assistant Directed by Eoin McAndrew
Written by Benjamin Alborough
Choreography by Hector Mitchell-Turner
Design and Musical Direction by Olivia Rose Deane
Stage Management by Emily Gleaves
Produced by Lauren King
Previous Casts, in the style of the timeline section of a band’s Wikipedia page:
Performances:
9th & 10th February 2017 – LCB Depot (Leicester Comedy Festival)
17th April 2017 – Leicester Guildhall
20th, 21st, 22nd April 2017 – The Bread and Roses Theatre, London
30th July 2017 – Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester
7th – 13th August 2017 – theSpace @ Surgeon’s Hall (Edinburgh Festival Fringe)
10th – 28th April 2018 – The Hope Theatre, London
7th July 2018 – OSO Arts Centre, Barnes (Barnes Fringe)
3rd – 25th August 2018 – theSpace @ Surgeon’s Hall (Edinburgh Festival Fringe)
31st July – 25th August 2019 – Gilded Balloon Rose Basement (Edinburgh Festival Fringe)
21st October – 25th October 2019 – Kino Elektronik, Warsaw, Poland (10 shows)
A big thank you to Francesca Leone, Shree Ziradkar, Adam Unwin, Edward Spence, Luke Stavenuiter, Ivo de Jager, Harry J Williams, Rory O’Sullivan, Aidan Cheng, Sam Wharvell, Doug Deans, Matthew Parker, Benedict Philipp, Will Beynon, James King, Holly Ellis, Edward Dargiewicz, Sean Thurgood and all of our Indiegogo backers.
Cream Stream Tea and Incest
COVID-19 interrupted my plans of putting the show on indefinite hiatus and I thought that it might be fun to write and livestream a new sequel to the original show every week of lockdown.
I did it for five weeks before I had to have a seriously long lie down.
Have you ever tried writing a halfway comprehensible and funny half hour sitcom in less than a week – five times?
Extremely fun though and I’m very happy with how they turned out.
Here they are below; but if you’re looking for one to start on my favourite is #3.
Stream Tea S01E01: From Russia with Jeffrey
Stream Tea S01E02: The Quest for the Blarney Stone
Stream Tea S01E03: The Saint Valentine’s Day Flatterer
(co-written with Harry J Williams)
Stream Tea S01E04: Sex, Lies and Very Large Apes
(co-written with Harry J Williams)
Stream Tea S01E05: The King, His Brother, His Lover and Jeffrey
(guest written by Eoin McAndrew)
Ricky Riddlegang and the Riddle Gang
Join hip teen detective Ricky Riddlegang and his trusty Riddle Gang as they solve the mystery of the haunted manor and put the perpetrator to death. Spectres, suspects and shenanigans abound as the Gang delve into an enigma that threatens to devour them all… Uncle Eustace Riddlegang’s ancestral collection of clues and hints has gone missing. This makes tracking down the culprit difficult as it’s completely impossible to tell what clues and hints are relevant. But which of the one previously introduced characters could the culprit actually be?
★★★★ – Remote Goat
★★★★ – Binge Fringe
★★★★ – Broadway Baby
★★★★ – EdFringeReview
Excellent Show – Fringe Review
Starring:
Benjamin Alborough as Ricky Riddlegang
Tom Myles as Uncle Eustace/ Bobby Cluecrew/ Mr the Gardener/ Michael Caine
Lottie Davies as Frieda
Pippa Caddick as Aurora
Will Beynon as Johnny
Directed by Olivia Rose Deane
Movement Direction by Sophia Priolo
Written by Benjamin Alborough & Harry J Williams
Original music and Sound design by Matthew Farrugia
Stage Management by Emily Gleaves
Produced by Lauren King
Performances:
9th, 10th & 11th May – New Wimbledon Theatre Studio
28th May – 2nd June – The Warren, Brighton Fringe
31st July – 25th August 2019 – Gilded Balloon Rose Basement (Edinburgh Festival Fringe)
Benjamin Alborough 