David Benson Sings Noël Coward

Returning to the character he played in BBC series Goodnight Sweetheart, Fringe First award-winner Benson takes on Coward´s masterful songbook. This brand new show promises Benson at his best as singer, impersonator, host and raconteur. With eight solo shows and over a decade´s experience, Benson has a proven ability to sensitively portray some of the most famous performers of our time whilst offering new insight, dark humour and plentiful entertainment.

‘Benson sings, acts and amuses his way through this delightfully entertaining and enlightening show.’ EdinburghGuide.com

When David was twelve years old his grandfather gave him a 78rpm record of Coward singing his comic patter song The Stately Homes of England. He was immediately hooked. Now, at last, he is set to indulge his life-long passion for these songs with this sparkling tribute to The Master. Featured songs include Mad Dogs and Englishmen, London Pride, Mad About the Boy, I´ll See You Again, If Love Were All, and Mrs. Worthington.

‘David Benson has struck gold again, this time raiding Noel Coward´s songbook. He becomes the master as he sings.’ Daily Telegraph

David Benson made his solo performance debut at the Edinburgh fringe 1996 with Think No Evil Of Us: My Life With Kenneth Williams, which won a Fringe First, played a West End season and continues to tour nationally. Other shows since then include Nothing But Pleasure (1998); To Be Frank (2001); Star Struck (2003); David Benson´s Haunted Stage (2004); Conspiracy Cabaret (2005); and Why Pay More? (2006) which won him a Stage nomination for Best Solo Performance. In 2003 Benson devised and directed Janet Street-Porter´s 2003 solo fringe hit All The Rage. He has also performed in ensemble shows including Latin! (Kings Head) and Loot (Derby). He premiered his Christmas show David Benson´s Christmas Party at Salisbury Playhouse in December 2006, which toured and played West End dates over Christmas 2007 – and will do so again this year.

Noël Coward was a writer, composer, performer and director. Born in Teddington, Middlesex in 1856, he began acting in the West-End at an early age and was famed on both sides of the Atlantic for his flamboyant lifestyle as well as his singing, acting, films, plays and music. During World War II, whilst seemingly living a luxurious and glamorous life, for which he was criticised, he was engaged for intelligence work by the Secret Service. Coward wrote and released some very popular songs during the war, the most famous of which are London Pride and Don’t Let’s Be Beastly To The Germans. He passed away in 1973 but his work continues to be seen and reimagined today, most notably recently with the West End production of Brief Encounter by Kneehigh Theatre.

Doing the fringe means being adventurous and taking a chance. The
world over, fringe festivals tempt with an array of shows from around
the globe; music, comedy, dance, spoken word, theatre are all there to
discover. The intrepid fringe explorer will come across the exotic, the
strange and the bizarre, be entertained, moved and amused, taking in
not just one but several shows a day in their big fringe adventure.
Fringe Festival Praha offers almost 40 shows and 200 performances in 7
fantastic venues across beautiful Malá Strana over 9 very special
nights in May we hope you are up for the challenge, pack your bags and
hop on board.