2017 is the year of Hull as UK city of culture, and although they're based in
Warwickshire the RSC have got in on the act, co-producing a new commission with Hull
Truck Theatre. The city is at the heart of
The Hypocrite, which although
being written in the style of a Restoration comedy takes its story from true events
from well before the Restoration, indeed before there was any need for a
Restoration, as the titular character, Sir John Hotham (Mark Addy,) was the Governor
of Hull in 1642, just as the Civil War was about to break out. His story was a
scandal that put the city at the centre of the action, so it's natural that Hull's
best and funniest living playwright should be chosen to tell it. But he must
have been busy so they just got Richard Bean in to recycle some of the more
successful bits from
One Man, Two Guvnors.
