Wodehouse in Wonderland Comes to The Tabard Theatre

A play by William Humble looks at the writer's post-war life in New York

Robert Daws as PG Wodehouse
Robert Daws as PG Wodehouse. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

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August 8, 2025

A play by William Humble based on the life and writings of P. G. Wodehouse, is returning to the Tabard Theatre after a successful run of four shows in July.

Described as dark, witty and charming the one-man piece stars Robert Daws (Jeeves and Wooster, Poldark) and is directed by Robin Herford (The Woman in Black), the play coincides with the 50th anniversary of Wodehouse's death.

These London performances will serve as previews for a longer run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it will play at Assembly George Square Studios from Wednesday 30 July to Sunday 24 August. It then is back in Chiswick for another four shows from Wednesday 27 August to Saturday 30 August.

Based on the life and writings of P.G. Wodehouse, Wodehouse in Wonderland takes place in P.G. Wodehouse’s New York State home in the 1950’s. Plum, as he is known to family and friends, is working away at the latest adventures of Bertie Wooster but is interrupted by a young would-be biographer, his adored wife, daughter Snorkles, and his two Pekingese.

He shares stories about how Jeeves entered his life, how he became addicted to American soap operas and why he wrote books that were ‘like musical comedies without music’. He sings songs composed by Broadway legends such as Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Ivor Novello with lyrics written by himself, and entertains the audience with characters including Bertie Wooster, Jeeves, Lord Emsworth, Gussie Fink-Nottle and the squashily romantic Madeline Bassett…but there’s also a darker story ahead for Wodehouse beneath the fun.

Robert Daws said, “Seven years ago, I called my friend of several decades, the BAFTA-winning screenwriter and playwright William Humble, and asked him if he fancied working on a theatre project about the life of Pelham Grenville Wodehouse. To my pleasure and happy surprise, Bill instantly replied, “That would be spiffing”.

“Having already researched the world of Wodehouse for a film script he had been commissioned to write, Bill presented the first draft of Wodehouse In Wonderland within weeks. Workshops, readings, and first performances at Literary Festivals at Oxford, Blenheim Palace, and Gibraltar followed, and Bill was in his element. His love of Wodehouse and the theatre spurred him forward, helping, as he often told me, to fight against the ill health he was increasingly battling to keep at bay. Sadly, Bill lost this battle at the end of 2024, leaving his beloved family and friends to mourn the passing of a loving, passionate and hugely creative man.

“From the beginning of Wodehouse In Wonderland, Bill had expressed the wish that his play might be performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on the 50th Anniversary of Plum’s death. It is bittersweet that Wodehouse In Wonderland will make it to London and Scotland this year but without its author. Neither Bill nor his literary hero Plum was much given to sentimentality. Still, I hope they would both forgive me the indulgence of imagining the two of them looking down on our Tabard and Festival run and enjoying a spiffing time together.”

Wodehouse in Wonderland is produced by Cahoots Theatre Company Ltd and performed by arrangement with the Wodehouse Estate.

To book tickets (£20 or £17 for concessions) for Wodehouse in Wonderland at the Tabard Theatre, visit this link.

Coming Up at The Tabard

Theatre at the Tabard is at 2 Bath Road, Chiswick (W4 1LW).

 

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