Comedy writer Mike Bennett tells Richard Osley why he has set himself the challenge of trying to make a musical about the world of ska

SO, we’ve had pop musicals about rock ‘n’ roll, Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley. We’ve had mad musicals about disco dancing, borrowing from The Bee Gees and Abba.
We’ve had musicals on roller skates and scratchy actors dressed up as cats. We’ve had horrible Ben Elton musicals devoted to Rod Stewart and Queen, really horrible, and try-hard shows centring on Bollywood, salsa, 1980s glam, ugh!, and even hip hop. It’s become a musical minefield out there.
Some shows capture the imagination, other shows are carted off the stage almost as soon as they open – whatever happened to Mike Reid’s Oscar Wilde musical?
But Mike Bennett – comedy writer and record producer, once of indie band The Fall – is unruffled as he gets ready to serve up his new show: a pop musical about one of his true passions, ska music.
Will the stutter-dance ska fans and, allow me use of at least one stereotype, the chilled-out reggae fans be up for a manic comedy musical? We’ll see. But Bennett has gambled before and come up smelling of roses – this is a man who proudly recalls the moment he remixed rubbish rock trio Emerson, Lake and Palmer with a drum ‘n’ bass beat.

The tragic events of Thursday lend Robin Soans’ latest play about terrorists an uncanny significance, writes Tom Foot

BOMB blast fire fighters who helped stretcher wounded victims from the wreckage of Thursday’s terrorist explosions are facing deep cuts to their rescue squads.
Union officials have been forced to make a desperate appeal to government in a bid to stop Camden’s heroic team of fire fighters being split up and moved to stations in the suburbs.
The red alert came as New Journal reporters uncovered details of how the fire service was hampered by incorrect information and crossed wires as they bravely tried to get first aid to blast victims and help dazed passengers out of underground danger zones.