THE STORY: Courted at the end of his show by bankers John and Jane, TV star Barry believes he is to get the five-star treatment that he deserves. However, urged to provide a candid account of his offstage life and views, the Barry that emerges is the least of the surprises in the tense game of power and manipulation that ensues.
“There are moments in Joe Penhall’s superb new play that had me squirming in my seat with a mixture of embarrassment, pain and guilty recognition. DUMB SHOW offers a mesmerising, utterly persuasive account of a classic tabloid sting…a furious, black-comic satire on the bankrupt values of our tabloid culture.” —Daily Telegraph (London). “…a funny, furious tirade against the unlovely practise of entrapment journalism and the agent provocateur journalists who do its dirty work.” —Guardian (London). “Joe Penhall’s drama is brilliantly written and shaped and unpeels with a flourish…Joe Penhall, who is a very funny writer, makes us think hard about what constitutes a good joke, what makes a good story.” —Observer (London).
