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Popcorn by Ben Elton
About the Author
Ben Elton was born in Catford, London in 1959. His father was the German-born Jewish physicist, Lew Elton.
Ben was instrumental in revolutionising British TV comedy when his co-written (with Rik Mayall and Lise Mayer) seminal “alternative comedy” series, The Young Ones, was first broadcast in 1982.
Early on, Elton was a prolific playwright, producing 18 plays whilst studying Drama at the University of Manchester. During the 1980’s, he had a highly successful career as a stand-up comedian, bringing his own frenetic brand of political comedy (peppered with “toilet humour”) to British TV as the host of Friday Night Live and Saturday Live – which were responsible for launching the careers of such notable British comedians as Harry Enfield, Stephen Fry & Hugh Laurie, Rik Mayall & Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French & Jennifer Saunders, among many others. Elton’s own TV series, The Man from Auntie, followed soon after.
The ambitious TV series, The Black Adder (1983), was later revived with huge success when Elton and Richard Curtis (of Four Weddings and a Funeral fame) took over writing duties for subsequent series, resulting in the timeless comedy of Blackadder II, Blackadder the Third and Blackadder Goes Forth.
Elton’s first novel was published in 1989 and he has written thirteen others, four of which have been UK Number 1 Bestsellers. He adapted his 1999 novel, Inconceivable – which was based on his and his wife’s experiences of undergoing IVF treatment – into the 2000 movie, Maybe Baby, which he also directed.
Popcorn won the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1997 for Best New Comedy. It began life as a novel in 1996 and was adapted by Elton into a play in the same year. Popcorn was inspired by the then-current media debate on violence in movies, which had been re-ignited by the success of the films of Quentin Tarantino.
Since 2000, Elton has collaborated with composers and musicians on a number of stage musicals, most notably We Will Rock You, based on the music of the rock band Queen, and on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies.
Elton has been named as one of the biggest private financial donors of the British Labour Party and has participated in Labour rallies and campaigns. Notably, he was part of the comedy arm of the ‘Red Wedge’ movement (a campaign leading up to the 1987 general election), which was set up in order to engage young people in left-wing politics and to, ultimately, oust Margaret Thatcher from office.
Elton has held both British and Australian citizenship since 2004. He is married to saxophonist Sophie Gare, and they currently live with their 3 children in Fremantle, Australia.
Popcorn was performed on the following dates:
- Monday, May 12th 2014, 8 p.m.
- Sunday, May 25th, 2013, 8 p.m.
- Friday, May 30th, 2014, 8 p.m.
The Cast (in order of appearance)
| Bruce Delamitri, Hollywood film director | Adam Pardoe |
| Karl Brezner, producer |
Adrian Kuhn |
| Velvet Delamitri, Bruce’s daughter |
Hannah Schabio |
| Farrah, Bruce’s wife |
Johanna Lauer |
| Wayne Hudson |
Matthias Zimmer |
| Scout | Anna Weinand |
| Brooke Daniels | Nike Larrá |
| Kirk, sound technician |
David Kinkopf |
| Bill, Cameraman | Mughundan Deenadayalan,André Manchen |
Popcorn was attended by several members of the press. Please find their reviews below for your convenience and reading enjoyment.
Melanie Koch, 5vier.de: Trier English Drama präsentiert: Popcorn by Ben Elton.
Moritz Riesinger, hunderttausend.de: Sex, Gewalt und Tarantino.