WHO’S THE DADDY?
KING’S HEAD

IF this is what really goes on behind closed doors at respectable magazine houses, then we’d all want to be journalists!
‘Who’s The Daddy?’ by Spectator journalists Toby Young and Lloyd Evans chronicles the summer of love at the newly christened ‘Sextator’ magazine, when few of the staff were apparently able to keep their trousers on, resulting in editor and Tory toff Boris Johnson’s frolic with his writer Petronella ‘Petsy’ Wyatt, publisher Kimberly Quinn’s duvet dive with David Blunkett, and columnist Rod Liddle’s seduction of the magazine’s 22-year-old secretary, who is now pregnant with his baby.
Last year’s scandalous events at the Spectator led to the sacking of Johnson as a front bench Conservative spokesman, David Blunkett’s resignation as Home Secretary, and the collapse of Rod Liddle’s marriage.
The resulting play, a Ray Cooney-style farce of six-way sexual shenanigans at the Speccy, may be more a product of the writers’ overactive imaginations than a document of truth. But if a play can make you laugh out loud non-stop for its entirety, who really cares about attention to detail?
Directed by Tamara Harvey, Who’s The Daddy? is set in the Spectator’s offices, complete with Stag’s head, Churchill bust, and a Maggie Thatcher painting that conveniently covers the hidden bed upon which all the debauchery takes place.
Michelle Ryan, formerly Zoë Slater in Eastenders, is hilarious as Tiffany, the busty secretary, and Tim Hudson’s bumbling Boris is brilliant to watch, especially in his attempts to seduce Sara Crowe, playing posh Petsy.
Quite how Young and Evans have avoided being sacked for their irreverent insider’s view of the self-indulgent, Champagne-quaffing Spectator staff is testament to Boris Johnson’s sense of humour. “I always knew my life would be turned into a farce,” the Old Etonian said of the play.

Until Aug 28
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