Josie Lawrence is The Boss of It All in streamed Lars von Trier stage adaptation
The cult classic Lars von Trier film, The Boss of It All, has been adapted for a specially staged streamed version by theatre company New Perspectives, with Josie Lawrence playing the title character. The office comedy drama was originally presented at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2013 to widespread critical acclaim before transferring to Soho Theatre. In 2020 the office setting has now become a remote working set up, with the action taking place via a series of Zoom meetings. Josie will lead a cast of seven performing live from their homes, and will be joined each night by a different comedian guest cameo from around the globe.
For years the boss of an IT company has tricked his staff into believing he is simply another co-worker. So when he needs a ‘real’ boss to help close the deal of a lifetime, he hires an actor to play the role. What could possibly go wrong? Marking one of Lars von Trier’s rare forays into comedy, this distinctive and eccentric exploration of office politics has been rewritten for the stage by Jack McNamara following its hit premiere seven years ago. The play has since been performed around the world
Josie Lawrence stars as Kristina (gender flipped from the original Kristoffer in the film), the out-of-work actor hired to play the boss of the company. She is best known as a regular guest on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, as well as Manda Best in EastEnders and recent role of Agnes Nutter in Good Omens. The eight-strong cast also includes Ross Armstrong (Chernobyl, Mr Selfridge), award-winning UK-based Japanese comedian Yuriko Kotani and a special guest cameo from a different comedian for each performance.
The Boss of It All is a New Perspectives and Soho Theatre co-production in association with Derby QUAD.
Josie Lawrence said, “Really excited to be working with one of my favourite directors Jack McNamara again. Love this adaption and can’t wait to get started. It’s live theatre streamed from our homes to yours. Hope you can join us."
New Perspectives Artistic Director Jack McNamara said, “The Boss of it All is a comedy about dodgy leadership, work instability and the artifice of daily life. So it is little surprise that the play has gained an entirely fresh resonance in the time we find ourselves in today. Rewriting it for zoom brought out a clear political centre that was almost unnoticeable six years ago. It’s hard today not to recognise a story about finding ourselves in the hands of leaders whose conviction goes no deeper than the script they are holding.”
New Perspectives is an East Midlands based company with over 40 years’ experience of touring high-quality productions to venues of all sizes across the UK, from mid-scale theatres to village halls. With a strong rural core, they create productions to fit spaces of any size in order to bring new work that is unexpected and thought-provoking to a wide range of audiences. Since 2012, New Perspectives has been led by Artistic Director Jack McNamara whose productions include The Boss of It All by Lars von Trier (Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh and Soho Theatre), The Lovesong of Alfred J Hitchcock by David Rudkin (Brits off Broadway, New York and UK tour), Darkness, Darkness (Nottingham Playhouse co-production) and the Stage Award winning The Fishermen by Gbolohan Obisesan (Trafalgar Studios, Assembly George Square Studios and UK Tour). Their podcast series PlacePrints is currently available, and their postcard drama Love From Cleethorpes is available again from October.
Soho Theatre is London’s most vibrant producer for new theatre, comedy and cabaret. We pursue creative excellence, harnessing an artistic spirit that is based in our new writing roots, the radical ethos of the fringe and the traditions of punk culture and queer performance. We champion voices that challenge from outside of the mainstream, and sometimes from within it too. We value entertainment, accessibility and enjoy a good show. We are a registered charity and social enterprise and our audiences are diverse in age, background and outlook.
Ordinarily our work plays to live audiences of 250,000 audiences a year in our Dean Street venue, at the Edinburgh Fringe and beyond. Since our temporary closure due to Covid-19 we have re-launched our online platform Soho Theatre On Demand, which hosted the phenomenally successful live recording of Fleabag. We are also working towards the opening of an exciting second venue, a “local theatre with a national profile” in Walthamstow, currently slated to open in 2022.
Soho Theatre’s board is chaired by Dame Heather Rabbatts DBE and the company is led by Executive Director Mark Godfrey and Creative Director David Luff.
sohotheatre.com | sohotheatreo
Cast
Kristina Josie Lawrence Ravn Ross Armstrong
PA David Alade Gorm Angela Bain Lise Rachel Summers
Mette Yuriko Kotani Spencer Jamie de Courcey The Voice Tone Haldrup Lorenzen
Listings information
18 – 20 September
Friday 18 September at 8pm
Saturday 19 September at 4pm and 8pm
Sunday 20 September at 4pm and 8pm
Tickets from £8 - £15 | sohotheatre.com
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