This is the story of Charles and Diana which made almost as many headlines at the time as the royal pairing. QUIZ: THE COUGHING MAJOR SCANDAL is the revival of James Graham’s play about who wants to be a millionaire, and the Ingrams who almost got away with the loot. A tidy sum, I think you’ll agree – definitely not to be sneezed at (or coughed).
The play is at the New Theatre in Cardiff through till Saturday, with a first rate cast of players.
RORY BREMNER plays Millionaire host Chris Tarrant in the first ever national tour of this brilliant show. Joining Rory is Emmerdale star CHARLEY WEBB, LEWIS REEVES is the Major himself, and bears an uncanny resemblance to the real man, as you can see in our comparison below.
MARK BENTON is a very familiar face from our TV and just one of those guys you instantly warm to, and you most certainly do in Quiz. This multi-talented cast is complete with LEO WRINGER, SUKH OJLA, STEFAN ADEGBOLA, DANIELLE HENRY, JAY TAYLOR and MARC ANTOLIN.
As a slightly younger journalist, and working around the Wiltshire area at the time, I did cover this case extensively, so I have a little bit of knowledge about proceedings. What is so great about the play however, is that it all feels familiar, even if you’ve never watched an episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. You’ll feel invested in the story and become very much a part of what is going on. We all love a good scandal, and this is most certainly a cracker.
The play is a bit of a whodunnit, or more of a did they actually do it, and it’s us in the audience who get to decide what we think.
Back in 2001 when the story broke, it was all we were talking about – James Ingram wins a million pounds, on the biggest TV show at the time, and is suddenly declared a cheat, which ended with the contestants in the real life drama found guilty by a court of law.
Here we are, 22 years later, and still talking about the story, and once again questioning if the Ingrams really did do it.
First up, here’s the audience from the opening performance telling us what they thought. We also spoke to a lot of the cast at the end of the first South Wales show – one question we asked of everyone – Guilty or Not Guilty?
This isn’t just a play about right or wrong, it delves into the world of class and how we were seemingly obsesssed with ‘trail by television’ – or social media as it would be nowadays. Which makes us wonder if we really are getting the whole story, or just the story they want us to hear?
You may be thinking that a game show, albeit one of the most successful worldwide shows ever, is a slightly odd subject for a play, but at the heart of this are real people, divided by class and media spin.
The story itself is a serious one, the play is anything but, and takes us on a humorous journey through a story we may think we know but with a conclusiuon which is all donw to us.
I do want to mention the set design by ROBERT JONES, lighting by RYAN DAY and video by TIM REID. In fact, the entire creative team have put together something really special on stage. We are taken from TV studio to courtroom and into the Ingrams home. There are screens everywhere, with cameras to get us into the Millionaire groove.
As I mentioned, we are very much a part of the action and are given interactive keypads when we go into the auditorium – honestly, it’s such great fun.
The man in the Millionaire hot seat back in the day was Chris Tarrant, and although he’d been around for 20 plus years before the show, it really was Millionaire which made him a household name.
I have to say that Rory Bremner is a perfect fit in this role, and to be honest, I can’t think of anyone more suited to play him (OK, maybe Michael Sheen if you’ve seen the TV drama).
Everything about Rory’s Tarrant is spot-on. The look, sound and even those slightly comical facial tics we’ve come to expect. Getting Chris right though is a skilled job, and one Rory pulls off with masterful ease. Within seconds it felt like Chris Tarrant was on stage presenting the show.
All three of the main actors have the look of the real life people they portray, it’s uncanny actually. Along with our terrific Tarrant, we have a magnificent Major in Lewis Reeves and making her stage debut as Diana Ingram is Emmerdale favourite Charley Webb. Mrs Ingram is a difficult character to pull off because she is a really hard person to read. Charley portrays the strait-laced, slightly controlled woman we’ve witnessed on TV perfectly, but throws in some very nice TV game show geek, which really elevates the performance.
JAMES GRAHAM has written a piece which captures the essence of the real-life story but drags us into the story capturing our love of quizzes, pop culture and all things in television soap opera land.
It’s both sharp and witty but never loses sight of the real story, and that body of people who work to beat the TV quiz system for the big bucks. In this case they’re called ‘The Syndicate’, a group of likeminded – shall we say enthusiasts (geeks), who look for every loophole and backdoor to squirrel their way into the ultimate prize.
There is a real tension in the audience as we become jurors ourselves, casting our votes on the Ingrams, based on what we’ve seen.
QUIZ: THE COUGHING MAJOR SCANDAL is an engaging couple of hours in the theatre, with a story which zips along at a fair old pace. I do want to give mention again to the set. It really does feel like you are in a TV studio, watching this memorable episode of Millionaire unfold. With the spotlights and familiar blue tint, combined with the sounds and music which is synonymous with the show, we are thrown right into the heart of TV land.
QUIZ is at the New Theatre in Cardiff from through to Saturday 21st October. Performances are at 7:30pm each evening with a 2:30pm matinee on Saturday. For more details, and to get your tickets, go HERE.
You can also take a look at our original show feature, which includes the 15 questions which won Donald Fear the one million pound prize, and there wasn’t a cough to be heard – HERE.
Finally, we get to make up our own mind as to the outcome – our verdict – Charles and Diana were innocent.
